Hi everyone,
Thought you might like to hear about this organisation which I recently joined called 'Carers Together'. I don't know of any organisation like it, and I think it may be the answer to a lot of the problems we run into as carers.
The people who started it were carers and were running into the same problems as ourselves; lack of communication between the services, no idea where to go for help and funding for different problems, what to do when a dispute arose between carers and professionals.
The best way to describe it is as both a signposting organisation and a carers ACAS. If someone phones them looking for help, they can tell them how and where they can get it. They can help with filling in forms, and can negociate on your behalf with doctors, social workers or politicians. To give an example, one woman that we dealt with was left with a problem when her mother came out of hospital after a stroke and needed short term care for six weeks. The mother's house was in North Lanarkshire, but she was going to be staying with her daughter who was in South Lanarkshire, and they did not agree with the care assessment that the North Lanarkshire social workers had made. Carers Together intervened, and negociated on the woman's behalf with South Lanarkshire, and the assessment and its cost was finally accepted.
They deal with the local councillors and various things that arise. The local health board wanted a picture of the progress of a patient and carer when the patient had to enter hospital, to discharge and aftercare. Carers Together met up with consultants and doctors from the local hospitals for a day, they were put into different groups dealing with each stage, and they talked each other through all the issues and problems that arose at each stage. North Lanarkshire are planning their health strategy round this info.
They get things done. At the last conference, the issue of carers' health arose. Carers in North Lanarkshire now get free flu jabs as a result of that discussion. There is also now a campaign to raise awareness of bowel cancer amongst carers.
One issue that was brought up was the lack of a Parkinson's disease specialist nurse. The council advertised and they have now got one.
I don't know if we are a fluke or if this would be possible in every area. A friend of mine who works in key housing tells me that North Lanarkshire is miles ahead of the other authorities in care provision. The virtues of the organisation seems to be that they are all carers and they get people talking to each other. Anyway, tell me what you think.
Jools
Thought you might like to hear about this organisation which I recently joined called 'Carers Together'. I don't know of any organisation like it, and I think it may be the answer to a lot of the problems we run into as carers.
The people who started it were carers and were running into the same problems as ourselves; lack of communication between the services, no idea where to go for help and funding for different problems, what to do when a dispute arose between carers and professionals.
The best way to describe it is as both a signposting organisation and a carers ACAS. If someone phones them looking for help, they can tell them how and where they can get it. They can help with filling in forms, and can negociate on your behalf with doctors, social workers or politicians. To give an example, one woman that we dealt with was left with a problem when her mother came out of hospital after a stroke and needed short term care for six weeks. The mother's house was in North Lanarkshire, but she was going to be staying with her daughter who was in South Lanarkshire, and they did not agree with the care assessment that the North Lanarkshire social workers had made. Carers Together intervened, and negociated on the woman's behalf with South Lanarkshire, and the assessment and its cost was finally accepted.
They deal with the local councillors and various things that arise. The local health board wanted a picture of the progress of a patient and carer when the patient had to enter hospital, to discharge and aftercare. Carers Together met up with consultants and doctors from the local hospitals for a day, they were put into different groups dealing with each stage, and they talked each other through all the issues and problems that arose at each stage. North Lanarkshire are planning their health strategy round this info.
They get things done. At the last conference, the issue of carers' health arose. Carers in North Lanarkshire now get free flu jabs as a result of that discussion. There is also now a campaign to raise awareness of bowel cancer amongst carers.
One issue that was brought up was the lack of a Parkinson's disease specialist nurse. The council advertised and they have now got one.
I don't know if we are a fluke or if this would be possible in every area. A friend of mine who works in key housing tells me that North Lanarkshire is miles ahead of the other authorities in care provision. The virtues of the organisation seems to be that they are all carers and they get people talking to each other. Anyway, tell me what you think.
Jools
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