Caring for someone

The Carers’ Support Service offers a wide range of support to all carers. The service is often described as our Community Led and Targeted support for carers which means it helps you to help yourself or provides you with a little bit of support when you need it. We always recommend that as soon as someone recognises themselves as a carer they register with the Carers’ Support Service, this can help them to access a wealth of support, as and when they need it.

The Carers’ Support Service provide support to all carers whether you are a parent carer, a working carer or an adult carer, whether you are new to caring or have been providing care for a long time.

The service provides:

• Information and advice,
•  Emotional Support
• Counselling
• Befriending
• Training and wellbeing activities
• Support from peers who have similar experiences to yourself, which can help you to continue in your caring role.

For more information, please call 01652 650585 or see the website Carers’ Support Service

North Lincolnshire Council Family Carer Team also work alongside carers, when they need a little extra support to manage their caring role. This support often compliments the support given through the Carers’ Support Service and can work alongside the council social work teams when the person you are caring for needs a little more support, the Family Carer Team can work alongside adult social services to support the family as a whole. This team can offer a Carer’s Assessment to identify any needs you may have and will help you to think about planning for the future.

The Family Carer Team’s primary focus is on the needs of the carer, keeping them well and enabling them to live their life while undertaking a caring role. The team will be able to support carers with the following:

• Completing a Carer’s Assessment.
• Support to plan your caring role.
• Carer Break Funding.
• Information and advice.
• Signposting and referral to other services.
• Emergency planning.

To find out more please call 01724 298393.

What is a carer’s assessment?

Caring for someone who is ill, elderly, frail or disabled can present many challenges and this may have an impact on your own wellbeing. The carer’s assessment is designed to support you in considering your strengths and identifying what type of extra support you may need to help you in your caring role.

The assessment is not a test of how you perform as a carer and is not something you need to worry about. It’s simply the start of a conversation to help you find out more about the support available to help you in your caring role.

Who is entitled to a carer’s assessment?

If you care for an adult who is elderly, frail, disabled or ill, you are entitled to an assessment to identify any support services that you need. This assessment is available regardless of the hours and type of support you give and is not means tested. The focus of the assessment is the impact caring has on you and looks at what is important to you to maintain your wellbeing. Support offered through the carer’s assessment compliments the support given to you through the Carers’ Support Service, the Carers Support Service have some great support available that can help you to meet your needs within your local community.

The person you care for does not need to have completed a care needs assessment, or have a social worker, for you to be eligible for support in your own right. You can take the assessment even if the person you care for has been turned down for care and support.

What do I need to do?

If you feel you would like to have a Carer’s Assessment, the easiest way to get started is to complete the online Carer’s Assessment form. This gives North Lincolnshire Council’s Family Carer Team some background information about you. Using the online form means you can take as long as you like completing it. It gives the time you need to really think about how caring for someone affects your wellbeing, or quality of life.

If you would prefer to speak to someone, you can contact the Family Carer Team on 01724 297000 and they will arrange for someone to visit you.

What will I be asked in the assessment?

The assessment asks questions about how your caring responsibilities affect your wellbeing in different areas of your life.

When preparing for a Carer’s Assessment it is important to consider the following:

• Who I am and what is important to me – what things are important to maintain my happiness and wellbeing.
• The things I do to give support as a carer – this could be supporting to maintain the home, to giving emotional or physical care.
• What supports me as a carer – this is often other family members, friends or services which support me in my caring role. It could also be a support group or network away from my caring responsibilities.
• How caring impacts my life – this is often the changes you have had to make to your life to manage your caring role, this could be around planning your time more or the need to be physically fit.
• My feelings and choices about caring – this is the opportunity for you to think about how you feel about your caring role, what works for you and what may need to change.

What happens next?

After completing the online form, the Family Carer Team will get in touch. They may ask you for further information, or to clarify your answers. This could be done over the telephone or face to face.

From the answers you give, they will determine whether you are eligible for help with your caring responsibilities.

If you are eligible for help, the council will work with you to make a plan of how your needs can be met. This may involve getting help with day to day tasks, arranging a break from caring or helping you access technology so you can stay better in touch with your friends and family. The actual nature of the support will be personal to you and the needs you have.

If you are not eligible for help from the council at this time, the team will give you a reason for this and introduce you to other organisations and services that may be able to help. You are able to access the Carers’ Support Service even if you are not eligible for help from the council.

If your caring responsibilities change at any time, you are able to repeat the assessment process.

Young carers – who are they and what do they do?

A young carer is someone under the age of 18 who assists in the care or support of someone in their family or a friend who has:

• a disability
• illness or long term health condition
• a mental health condition
• misuses drugs or alcohol.

The term “young carer” does not apply to the everyday and occasional help around the home that may often be expected of or given by children in families.

What might a young carer do?

• practical tasks such as cooking, housework and shopping
• physical care such as helping someone out of bed
• emotional support
• personal care such as helping someone to dress
• managing the family budget
• helping to give medications
• looking after brothers and sisters.

Young carers can learn lots of useful skills and be well adapted to their circumstances. However, it is also important to recognise some of the challenges young carers may face, including the impact on their emotional or physical wellbeing, education and social opportunities.

There are an estimated 700,000 young carers across the UK. Here in North Lincolnshire we strive to ensure that young carers within our area are identified at the earliest opportunity to ensure that the right type of support is offered at the right time.

Here is a video made by young carers about being a young carer and the support available in North Lincolnshire.

Out of the Woods is another short animation that will give the viewer an insight into the lives of young carers and hopefully encourage young carers to take more steps to see support.

What is respite care?

If you’re looking after someone, occasional breaks are absolutely essential to your wellbeing and health. Replacement care is a temporary arrangement to allow the main carer to have time off for whatever reason. Carers often use replacement care to take a holiday or a break, or if they are ill and need time off. Replacement care can include:

• A family member or friend supporting the person you care for whilst you have a break.
• Day time support, where someone comes to your home to care for the person you look after during the day.
• Day opportunities, where the person you’re looking after goes to a day centre, or takes part in activities away from home.
• Support during the night, where someone comes to your home to care for the person you look after during the night, allowing you a good, restful sleep.
• Residential or nursing care, where the person you are caring for goes for a short stay in a residential or nursing home. (There are two types of care home – residential care can provide short-term or long-term care, and includes accommodation, meals, and personal care. Nursing homes have registered, trained nurses on-site, who can provide help with more complex health needs).
• Holidays by yourself, or with the person you care for.

How can I access respite care?

When thinking about replacement care it’s important to think about the needs of the person you are caring for as well as your own. If you need some support, the Family Carer Team can help, you will need to complete a Carer’s assessment in order to help us support you to consider what type of help you need.

You can also call the Family Carer Team on 01724 297000, or email them at FamilyCarerteam@northlincs.gov.uk for further information. Alternatively, if you want to find local services for carers, or if you have queries about your finances, benefits, working situation, or require practical advice, you can call the NHS helpline on 0808 802 02 02, or visit the NHS.uk website.

A list of all registered care homes can also be found on the Care Quality Commission website. Further help on choosing the right home can also be found on the NHS website

What is a personal assistant?

A personal assistant is someone who is employed directly by a person who needs support to enable them to live their life as fully and independently as possible.

A personal assistant may provide support with many aspects of their employer’s life – for example providing personal care, assisting the person to meet their friends, go to work, or take part in community activities.

Employing a personal assistant

An online interactive version of the Employing Personal Assistants toolkit is available on the Skills for Care website.

This will enable you to immediately access sections of the toolkit and the information you are most interested in. There are also links to organisations you can access for more support and information and booklets are available to download.

Carers may have access to the following benefits:

• Council tax and housing benefit
• Council tax – the carer’s discount

You may be entitled to a reduction in your council tax bill if you look after someone who:

• Receives the higher or middle rate of the Care Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or receives Attendance Allowance.
• Cared for by you for a minimum of 35 hours per week (If you receive Carer’s Allowance, previously known as Invalid Care Allowance, you have already proven you care for more than 35 hours per week).
• Not your spouse or partner.
• Over 18.
• Lives with you.

Other benefits:

• Attendance Allowance – paid to people who are over 65 and have health problems and care needs.
• Disability Living Allowance – paid to people disabled before the age of 65.

Other means-tested benefits:

• Income Support
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Benefit
• Pension Credit

A carer’s premium is included in these benefits for people who are entitled to Carer’s Allowance. This includes people who would be paid Carer’s Allowance but do not get paid because of the overlapping benefit rule. For more information contact visit Gov.uk website.

The Family Carer Team can offer you access to an Emergency Card, which helps you to plan for emergencies to make sure the person you care for is looked after. It is important for carers to consider who would help if they had a crisis situation and were unable to provide support for the person they care for. By completing an emergency plan, the carer can identify a family member, friend or professional that they would like to be contacted if an emergency happens.

The carer will be given a Carer’s Emergency Card. It provides carers with reassurance that in such situations the emergency number will be contacted to ensure the person they care for is supported.

The emergency services recognise the card and know that someone is dependent on the person carrying it. The card also has the phone number for the 24-hour control room, so help can be accessed immediately.

For further information contact the Family Carer Team 01724 298393.

The bottle scheme is a simple idea designed to encourage people to keep their personal and medical details on a standard form and in a common location – the fridge.

The kit comprises of:

• a plastic bottle
• an information sheet
• two stickers (one for the inside of your front door and one for your fridge door) to inform the emergency services that there is a ‘message in a bottle’ in the house.

The information sheet is completed and sealed in the plastic bottle which is then put in the door of the fridge.

The emergency services will know to look for it. They will locate the bottle and pass it on to a doctor or hospital personnel in an emergency.

If you would like to receive a free message in a bottle contact miabcenorder@lions.org.uk.

Alternatively, please contact 0845 833 9502 for details of your nearest club.

• Carers UK
• NHS website
• Information on Dementia
• Dementia UK
• Reforming Care and Support
• WelfareRights
• Carer’s Allowance on GOV.UK
• Bridgit Care