Carers Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring and to highlight the challenges unpaid carers face usually falls in early June. This year’s campaign has even more potency than previous years, with the UK adult social care system in urgent need of reform.
This has been highlighted several times in the media, most recently in BBC Panorama’s shocking ‘Crisis in Care’ episode. The heart-breaking episode followed various families with unpaid carers in desperate need of support and also looked at the plight of social workers, who are often forced to make potentially life-or-death choices.
This follows shocking data released by the NHS earlier this year that 32,115 sick and vulnerable adults died while awaiting social care in 2017/18. This equates to nearly 90 people a day dying before they could get the care they needed.
Here at Unique Senior Care, we recognise the enormous contribution the 6.5 million unpaid carers make to families and communities across the UK, and want to help raise awareness of the vast challenges facing them. The theme for this year’s Carers Week is helping carers get connected –having access to the right information and support is vital. The Carers Week website therefore has a range of helpful resources for carers here: https://www.carersweek.org/about-us.
We know that taking care of a loved one can at times be both emotionally and physically tiring. We also understand the importance of having access to high-quality respite care – we want to ensure carers can take a break, secure in the knowledge their loved one is in safe and professional hands. Whether it is just a few hours off to go shopping or 24-hour care while you take a well-earned break, we can help. If you’re considering respite care, why not speak to one of our team to find out more about how we can support you and your loved one?
