And Bill, right now is placed further ‘ammunition’ to continue without anyone stopping it via coronavirus Act…not that the breaches could be stopped before. I hate being the bearer of ‘doom’…instead, unfortunately, I am the bearer of reality. Like the ones, I’ve dealt with failed to adhere to 117 aftercare, for many years before the coronavirus Act. I think I can say, carers need to understand what they are really going to be up against and the only remedy is…looking after ourselves as best we can.
Me…I’ve set up my hot tub, in the garden which is currently at 40 degrees.
Me…I’ve set up my hot tub, in the garden which is currently at 40 degrees.
Be nice here too in my " Garden " … the communal car park.
Probably be full of postmen as we overlook the local sorting office.
BACK TO THREAD.
Totally get that Bill…not everyone is lucky enough to have a garden. I got this 4 years ago and without it I think I would have gone mad. It was a forbidden item in social cares eyes and all the more reason to get it back then. Not because they tried to enforce a block but because I needed time out as a carer. Really, they are lucky I made a good choice…it could have been much worse…even if I do say so me own self haha.
I am really disappointed that my request for a Qustion and Answer session is not being permitted.
As members, surely this request should be respected?
I know we’ve had a questionnaire, but that sought to get answers to questions that the management wanted from us.
Surely as members we should have an equal right to ask the management to respond to our questions too?
I am especially concerned about carees having LA funded care withdrawn, giving a family carer lots of work, without any payment from the LA.
The Care Act says this can happen, Hampshire are ignoring this.
I don’t know how many other authorities are taking the same stance, it should be fairly easy to find out for an organisation like CUK, and then campaign on behalf of affected carers.
I’m tired of hearing about the problems of carers who are able to go out to work.
Those whose care load is so heavy that work is an impossibility, when they are caring 168 hours a week, are surely those who need the support of CUK most of all?
Hiya Bowlingbun, Your absolutely right, in all respects of this. We as carers, can not be left to fight ‘a losing battle’ individually and just take it on the chin. This is the Government’s idea via coronavirus Act…and how fast it was enforced to affect carers, putting more ‘duties’ on them…and it’s in no way okay. It wasn’t ok before either. It’s never been ok. We need to hear the voice…speaking up for carers as well as carers speaking up for themselves. We should be paid and there is no doubt about it…Not in carers allowances…I mean PROPERLY paid…especially during this crisis!
Hello bowlingbun. I did raise this with our helpline and policy teams but unfortunately we don’t have capacity to run Q&A sessions on the Forum at present. Although we have extended our helpline opening hours from 2 days a week to five days a week (Monday to Friday, 9-6), our helpline advisers are still working flat out to deal with the unprecedented number of calls and emails we are receiving. Our policy team are also exceptionally busy in representing your rights in relation to the impact of the coronavirus (e.g. with Government ministers and in our media coverage). Thanks to everyone who has completed the survey so far.
As you refer to, on Friday we sent a survey to Carers UK members about the impact of the coronavirus on their lives and have also promoted this on our social media. In less than a week we’ve received over 4,000 completed surveys and the evidence gathered on the experiences and concerns of carers across the UK will be incredibly valuable in helping us to shape our messages to the Government and update the guidance we provide on our website (www.carersuk.org/coronavirus).
In just three and a half weeks since we set up this coronavirus section of the Forum, 130 topics have been set up and over 900 posts have been made. The Forum has therefore been another really valuable source of evidence on the impact of the coronavirus on carers’ lives and the themes you have been discussing (e.g. shopping, visiting family members) have been drawn upon by our policy team and used in developing the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ on our website.
You say that you are especially concerned about local authority funded care being withdrawn for the people you are looking after. I will discuss this with colleagues and let you know next week if we know how many LAs this is taking place in.
If you or other carers have questions about your individual circumstances, please contact our helpline on advice@carersuk.org and we will respond to you as quickly as we can.
With good wishes
Michael
If you or other carers have questions about your > individual > circumstances, please contact our helpline on > advice@carersuk.org > and we will respond to you as quickly as we can.
… and general questions currently affecting hundreds of thousands , if not low millions , of carers ?
Who do we ask to answer these ?
Hospital discharges probably the greatest priority closely followed by emergency cover.
( Professor Luke Clements ? )
Shopping … still a post code lottery … most mutual aid groups have stepped into the breach … but a nationwide agreement for carers would certainly be welcomed … as would an emergency
carers card to ensure the doors are opened for us , not only in the supermarkets.
Likewise , information … it’s slowly getting out to those who have no direct access to the Internet.
Finances … Carers UK will not need to be reminded of that one … even increasing CA by 2 / 3 even 4 times the present level will still not take many of the 1 in 10 / 11 who can claim it out of poverty
… the remaining 7.5 million odd ?
How many carers juggling work with caring have been laid off / furloughed / zeroed houred … now a 4 / 5 week wait for their monies under UC … taking an advance payment only pushes the problem
onto following months … it has to be repaid.
Eligibility changes to open the purse strings … always seem to be tied whenever the word CARER is mentioned ?
Housing benefit … deserves a whole chapter to itself … an old thread details all the current pitfalls.
Just a brief summary of what carers are faced with today / tomorrow / next week … recent questionnaire hardly touches the fringes of these.
Easter holiday tomorrow … shame that both coronavirus and carers will continue to do what they do as if it never existed ???
Michael,
I have already raised the issues of
A) The email I was sent by the provider saying “Come and get M asap”.
This should have come from the LA, who were aware that my doctors and consultants have said for 25 YEARS that I shouldn’t care for him at all. This was a clear failing. I had to refuse to care for him before the provider made arrangements.
Two other service users were sent home to their parents, although they had their own flats and were in “supported living” as the parents were retired.
The provider is now giving M 28 hours less a week than he would normally have, so he’s left in his flat, alone for 19 hours a day.
C) The steadfast refusal of the LA to pay family carers to care. So the LA is saving 28 x £15 an hour £420 a week for care alone, plus about £80 for transport, £500 a week.
D) Working carers seem to occupy a disproportionately large amount of the current work being undertaken.
All I ask is that those unable to work are represented equally too.
It is utterly illogical to refuse to address questions like this on the forum, but to tell all concerned to ring the helpline.
On the forum, the answer to one question could mean that hundreds of carers facing similar problems would not need to ring the helpline at all. We all need to work smarter in times of crisis.
D) Working carers seem to occupy a disproportionately large amount of the current work being undertaken.
Seconded … several times over … then doubled.
The most vulnerable carers among our ranks are being left high and dry.
The recent Coronavirus Act has added fuel to the raging inferno.
I agree with both Bowlingbun and Bill…I third it…Many thousands of carers are forced to be in a boat without a paddle! Expected of, and ordered about, by paid workers, especially from social services… and then taken for an absolute mug, by exactly the same paid workers.
Does anyone else agree this isn’t on, and the issue is not being represented properly or forcefully enough??
the issue is not being represented properly or forcefully enough??
To a degree but … with the Coronavirus Act passed without a single vote against in the House , any " Sympathy " for our plight … worsening by the day
… in the House may be consigned to the back burner … indefinitely.
After all , only illness or death will prevent any carer from caring … that fact has been played to the hilt by the System for decades , even more so now with
coronavirus currently on tour.
It’s the House that matters , they are the ones with the power to change things.
Only a Judge can override policy … any action in the pipeline will be delayed along with almost all other proceedings.
Even an emergency Public Health order , citing us as a group , would be like winning the lottery … three draws running ?
In the interim , nothing to prevent our supporting organisations devoting resources to answer the numerous issues arising ?
If they cannot answer them , approach a specialist … like Professor Luke Clements ( 632 DAYS SINCE WE FIRST RECOMMENDED HIM FOR A FORUM SESSION ! )
… or Care Services Minister , Clare Whately mp ( Carers Radio ? ) who can.
The operative word being SUPPORTING organisation.
I agree Bill, The coronavirus bill was pushed through so very quickly followed by the cementing of the Act where no-one voting against it ‘in the house’. Many carers like myself were already there before the Care Act itself was in place. Social care rarely co-operated back then with ANY support. In fact, they admitted 5 years of non-support to my son. They just got a small slap on the wrist. It was actually 10 years of non-support…and that was total non-support. Then it turned into 20 years of no support…They got away with it…not totally but definitely with a pocket full of ‘savings’. The Care Act came in…nothing changed much…lack of funding was the excuse…and now we have the Coronavirus Act as you say probably indefinitely…Taking us back decades.
The said Coronavirus Act needs to be amended and challenged.
The Coronavirus Act is very much a red herring.
Just official confirmation of what far too many LA’s and other supporting services were doing before … refusing / withdrawing vital services
DESPITE what the Care Act 2014 had to say for it’s self.
That aspect more than fully covered in that old Care Act thread.
Trouble now is … is this to be the new norm despite those reassurances contained therein to the contrary ?
BACK TO THREAD.
Questions and answers … Carers UK have the questions , now for some answers ?
I was just looking at the number of views to various threads.
Foodbanks, Universal Credit, Childcare, the poorest being hardest have the highest number of views I could see.
(Maybe someone else knows how to examine the data in more detail?.
Foodbanks has over 44 THOUSAND views!
Would it be unreasonable to expect Carers UK to use these numbers when working out priorities for future campaigns?
I can’t see any threads relating to the ability to continue to work? (I know there are some, but don’t know how to search for the numbers of such threads).
Foodbanks has over 44 THOUSAND views!
46 thousand +
One thread I wished I would never had have to start.
Type FOOD BANK into the DWP web site … 34,252 hits !
Type FOOD BANK into the Carers UK main site and … no results !
Conclusion ?
BACK TO THREAD
Hospital discharges ?
Main CHC / NHS Continuing Healthcare thread now updated to include effects of the Coronavirus Act :
https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/all-about-caring/chc-coughlan-grogan-judgements-pointon-ruling-nhs-contuing-healthcare-nhs-fnc-hospital-discharges-all-here-35998?p=427061#p427061
Bottom line ?
How many more carers will now be providing nursing care to their carees as CHC / NHS Continuing Healthcare has now been , effectively , withdrawn to new applicants ???
( Perhaps an 80+ years old disabled wife now with an 80+ years old husband needing constant nursing care ?
No needs / carer assessments … they have been suspended as well. )
Response from CUK???
Might be waiting some time.
Michael
I rang the helpline today to ask advice and they didn’t have a clue how to answer.
I had emailed CUK about three weeks ago and did not get a reply.
I am trying to get my LA to pay me some of the direct payment but they are not willing.
The helpline lady even went as far as to say …you get carers allowance don’t you!
Yes I told her… thats less than £1 per hour for the hours I do.
Expect more from Carers UK to be frank.
Direct payments ?
Hopefully NOT to a family member ?
And Bill…if you are a family member who lives in the same house…You’ve got no chance exceptional or not…You are duty-bound to care, apparently, so I have been told. Also, if you decide to move out of the said house…it’ll be considered abandonment…Even if you come back and do your unpaid shifts…and that is according to a …senior social worker. Otherwise known to me, as a paid bully…who also now gets priority ‘to go in the supermarket first’ and also to queue for far less time.