Priority 3 - Staying Healthy

Maintaining Carer Health and Wellbeing

Our carers deserve to remain in good health and experience quality of life, including juggling their caring role with other responsibilities, such as working or bringing up a family. For young carers, poor health impacts on their life chances. It is especially important therefore that they should have a fulfilled childhood, including the right to an education and the same life chances as other young people to achieve their aspirations. We intend to work in partnership with carers, health and social care providers, communities and employers to support carers to maintain good physical and mental health, to help carers to carry on caring. To achieve this, we will:

1. Adopt as a principle that carers can expect to experience good health and a good quality of life;
2. Encourage carers to be known to their Primary Care Surgery in order that appropriate support can be offered when required;
3. Ensure that schools and the Council know who their young carers are and that young carers know who to go to if they need support;
4. Train school staff and other relevant agencies to be alert to issues affecting the wellbeing of young carers and to respond appropriately;
5. Develop a culture where professionals working with the cared for, acknowledge and respond to the needs of carers to maintain their health and wellbeing before reaching the point of crisis;
6. Ensure the assessment process fully considers the impact of caring on the wellbeing of carers, identifies carers’ eligible needs and responds to them appropriately;
7. Ensure that, should a crisis occur, carers are supported as promptly as possible;
8. Make reasonable adjustments to NHS and Council services to enable carers to access services at times suited to their own needs and the needs of those they care for;
9. Make safeguarding paramount;
10. Increase the number of employers who are aware of Carers legislation, ensure mechanisms are in place to ensure more employers are made aware of an employee with caring responsibilities and that employers can take simple, but effective action to enable carers to balance their caring and employment responsibilities;
11. Where possible influence businesses to consider what flexible working practices might help both the employer and employee.