Norfolk Ambassador for Carers in GP surgeries.

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My introductory letter that I have sent out, I have the task of covering 124 surgeries in Norfolk to represent Carers on behalf of Carers UK. These  roles are being established across the whole of the UK.
 



  This role as Carers UK Care Ambassador for Norfolk has been created through the support and funding from the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Dept. of Health and will be working alongside Dr. Philip Leftley, formerly of the surgery at Pulham Market in his role as the Carer’s Champion, we hope to have the support of the 5 CCCG’s in Norfolk, West Norfolk Carers, Norfolk Carers Support and the Norfolk Carers Council, of which I am a member. The role is to complement and support local strategies and action plans aimed at improving the identification and support of Carers by GP Practices. The Carers UK team of volunteers operate within the “Supporting Carers in General Practice Programme” which is funded by the Dept. of Health and also involves the Carers Trust and Royal College of GPs.
    The aims are to improve the early identification of Carers, the support, the signposting to local services and to raise awareness and knowledge of issues facing Carers among GP practice staff and health and social care commissioners. It is believed that a key component in this could be the introduction of a “Carer’s prescription” issued by GPs, this system is currently in use and working well in Cambridgeshire.
  In the majority of cases the journey on the Caring role begins in the surgery when sadly someone has a diagnosis delivered thus changing the lives of two people. It is a simple process to tie a label around someone’s neck due to health reasons but the other half of that relationship also has their future changed.
    I took that path some years ago when my wife was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease, it took away my hopes and expectations for 29 years, 24 of which were 24/7 which meant having to retire from a well paid job at 54 years of age to earn the princely sum at the time of £39 per week Carers Allowance.
    My continuation in fighting the corner for Carers is a legacy in honour of my late wife, I know the struggle we had at times, yes the information is out there somewhere but it is the finding and obtaining it. There is more joined up thinking and co-operation today than there was when we first entered this maze but it can and must be improved and the statistics in Norfolk bear that out. It is accepted that there are appx. 90,000 Carers in this county yet only something in the order of 4,000 are known and recognised.
    I have run our Carers Support group in Costessey for 12 years, I work as a volunteer for Age UK (Norfolk) with a group for Carers and their Cared for who have Dementia and have organised the past 2 years Carers Rights Day and Carers Week events for Norwich. It is incredible the times we pick people up who have been a Carer for a number of years who are not aware of every day help or benefits that are their entitlement, very often simple things that could just make that burden a bit more tolerable.
    This is a vast free resource that everyone knows cannot go on strike, will not walk away, yet it saves the country the equivalent of the N.H.S.budget annually, now that is serious money. These people need and deserve every bit of assistance we can give them, not just fine words, not promises but something practical and the bottom line is that it will not cost a lot of money or fancy systems. Resolve and co-operation between all is the answer, not a question of intruding, imposing or jobsworth but simply all shoulders to the wheel to pick Carers up and better inform at the start line by directing them from the surgery to the appropriate next step. This will ultimately make life easier for all parties and be more efficient all round. The other item that I firmly believe is as vital if not maybe of more importance is the fact that when your time as a Carer suddenly comes to an end, would it not be good if someone gave a few moments of thought to pick the phone up to express a few words of condolence, support, maybe to ask if you need help of any sort, until you are in that situation you cannot fully understand the feelings, the hurt but above all the loneliness and loss of purpose.


                                                         

                                                                    Les  Eve,
                                                  Norfolk Carers Ambassador