Carers - from the NICVA Policy Manifesto
Posted by Feargal O'Kane on Feb 12 2007 under Carers, Policy Manifesto |
According to the 2001 Census, 185,000 people act as carers in Northern Ireland, looking after sick, disabled and dependent relatives. There is a growing and welcome awareness within government and statutory agencies of the needs and value of carers. However, this must now quickly be converted into practical and positive impacts on their daily lives.
It is important that equality and human rights form the basis for deciding on policies and delivering services in all departments and public bodies, notably the new trusts created under the Review of Public Administration. This includes equality for the Section 75 group of people with dependants and equal access to services in all parts of Northern Ireland.
Equality proofing of policies to assess their impact on people with dependants should be improved. Carers are individuals with their own needs who nevertheless care for others with a wide range of needs and abilities in what can be very complex and emotionally charged relationships. Carers have to be respected for their commitment and recognised for taking on responsibilities which would otherwise fall to the statutory sector.
Priority should be given to the funding of carers. The carer’s allowance is paid only to people caring for more than 35 hours per week and is entirely inadequate; it should be replaced by the equivalent of the National Minimum Wage. At present carers lose the allowance completely if they earn more than £84 in any one week. This is a disincentive to work and a barrier to reducing the level of economic inactivity in Northern Ireland. Other models in Europe should be studied to
find best practice. In the short term the carer’s allowance should be classified as an entitlement rather than an income replacement benefit.
In addition, people lose carer’s allowance once they begin to receive their pension and the rules on pension credit are complicated and not well known to carers or even social security staff. Carer’s allowance should be disregarded as income
so that it can continue to be paid to people on pensions.
Political parties should promote and meet the demands of carers as follows:
- A minimum entitlement of respite care should be put in place which is adequate, flexible, reliable and of the quality needed to meet the needs of carers and those they care for.
- Training programmes for carers should be fl exible, of high quality and based on their individual needs, ascertained through a more thorough, in-depth carer’s assessment. Carers also need access to general education and training, helped by special measures to give them full access eg through e-learning or payment of substitute caring cover.
- Carers’ unpaid work must not replace proper statutory and professional provision when it is appropriate. Carers should be assisted to understand human rights law, to know what to expect of a quality service and to be able to engage with health professionals to achieve that.
- Resources should be allocated to enable the provision of proper practical and emotional support systems for carers.
- Carers have extensive needs for information about their rights and benefits as carers and about the varying needs of the people to whom they provide care. An integrated information system for carers should be put in place offering timely and appropriate information through a range of mechanisms to ensure maximum coverage. The development of relevant community and primary health care professionals and support organisations is important as they have a critical role in channelling information to carers in isolation.
- Support organisations should be properly resourced to carry out proactive work for and with carers. The new health and social services trusts should be required to consult carers on matters affecting them.
- The proposal in the draft Work and Families (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 to give carers the right to ask employers for flexible working hours should be implemented.
- Carers should be entitled to regular checks on their mental and physical health to ensure that any problems are diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
- The process of housing adaptations should be simplified and greatly speeded up. If a need is assessed the client should be entitled to the change without undue delay.
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