Thank you to all the carers, staff, volunteers and partners who made 2023 such a successful, joyful and important Carers Week. At the Carers Voices Conference on the 8th June, we welcomed over 75 carers and professionals from a range of organisations to the annual event, hosted at the beautiful Lansdowne Hotel in Eastbourne. The Advice Fair saw 15 organisations from across the sectors share information about support and services for carers. It was great to see carers sharing experiences and taking the opportunity to ask challenging questions of decision makers on the panel. Those who attended included:
- 38 Carers
- 3 Guest/Cared for
- 35 Professionals
Special thanks to Helen Peters, Carers Voices Network member, who spoke at the event.
We have gained crucial insight from the event about what the challenges are that carers currently face.
- Difficulties in navigating the health and social care system remain a top issue affecting carers (third year running).
- Carers had significantly more questions and concerns around the NHS (in comparison to ASC).
Particular difficulties faced by carers included:
- Carer recognition in primary care, and to a degree, secondary care. More work in this area is required. Particularly recognising carers as partners in care for the patient.
- Vast disparity in quality of service across different GP practices.
- Need for first responders service to better manage emergencies for cared for persons.
- Challenges with accessing mental health services – lack of provision for young people, lack of integration of services – more involvement with Triangle of Care should be considered.
- Some carers experienced challenges accessing services due to this becoming predominantly technology based.
- We welcomed hearing about positive experiences with Ambulance services.
Carer awareness and general recognition and lack of adequate financial support remains very high on the agenda (higher than last year).
- Some carers voices being heard significantly less than others – strong recognition that carers are a vast and diverse group, with pockets of hidden carers.
- There is a significant interest in technology and tech enabled care (TEC) but there were concerns around safety, consent, data storing, effectiveness and tech inclusion.
We were also pleased to see that this Carers Week, carers reported they had a good opportunity to engage well with decision makers which was one of the Carers Voices Network priorities:
- Engagement from NHS was particularly sought after and welcomed, especially through the Carers Voices Event.
- MPs – four out of five local MPs got involved in the Carers Week campaign, with three particularly proactive in sharing information. This was a result of having built relationships with MPs and having in-person events for them to get involved with, as well as having a stronger engagement at national level from our national charity partners.
Particular highlight includes Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday after the Carers Week, featuring Hastings MP, Sally-Ann Heart and the Prime Minister, Rushi Sunak, highlighting the Carer Friendly initiative and recognising and thanking local carers for all their hard work.
