Caring for someone

A carer is someone who provides unpaid care or support to a partner, child, family member, friend or neighbour who cannot manage without your help, due to illness or a disability. 

Many people who care for someone do not necessarily see themselves as carers.

You could be a:

• mother or father
• son or daughter
• child or young person
• husband, wife or partner
• friend or neighbour

It can take average of two years for someone to acknowledge their role as a carer. You can be considered a carer if you help someone with one or more of the following:

• washing and dressing
• taking medication
• cleaning and laundry
• shopping or taking people to appointments
• providing lifts and arranging transport
• keeping someone company

Caring can be difficult both physically and emotionally and it is important that you make time to look after yourself.

If you care for someone, and need some help, you can ask for a carer’s assessment to see what support or services are available to make your life easier. 

The carer's assessment is for adults, aged 18 and over, caring for others, who are also aged 18 or over.

It is different from the needs assessment the person you care for might have, but you can ask to have them both done at the same time.

It might recommend things like:

• someone to take over caring so you can take a break
• gym membership and exercise classes to relieve stress
• help with taxi fares if you don't drive
• help with gardening and housework
• training how to lift safely
• putting you in touch with local support groups so you have people to talk to
• advice about benefits for carers

To request a carer’s assessment, email the Brent Gateway Services team: info@brengateway.org

If you would like us to arrange a joint assessment for yourself and the person you care for, please let us know when you contact us.

If you are a carer under the age of 18, you can also contact the Brent Gateway team for help and advice.

Preparing for your Carer's assessment

We are here to listen and want to make sure you feel relaxed and comfortable during your assessment. You can ask to bring a friend or family member with you to your appointment. We can also arrange for an advocate to help you make your needs and wishes known. 

The person you care for can be involved in your assessment, too. We know it is not always easy to talk about how your caring role is affecting your well-being so we can arrange for you to talk to your key worker in private.

For your assessment, you will need to give us:

• your NHS number (if you have one)
• your GP's name, address and phone number
• the contact details of anyone who's coming to the assessment with you
• the name, address, date of birth and NHS number of the person you care for (if you have it)
• your email address

About the assessment

The carer’s assessment includes a number of questions that will help us to understand how your caring role affects your well-being and everyday life. It is important that you give us as much information as possible so we can best help you to continue caring for someone.

Leaving out things might reduce the support or services recommended to you.

After the assessment

If you are eligible for preventative or individual support from us, we will contact you to discuss what sort of support you’d like to receive and agree on how it will be delivered. This is known as a Support Plan. 

We will also give you information and advice about other sources of support in your local area. This could be from local charities or support organisations.

If you provide 35 hours of care a week, or more, you may be eligible for the Carer’s Allowance and in some circumstances, a Council Tax discount. We will offer you a benefits check to make sure you are receiving all the financial support that you are entitled to.

If you are under the age of 18 and look after someone, then you may be a young carer.

The person you look after could be your mum, dad, brother, sister, a grandparent or even a close friend. They could have a physical illness or disability, mental health difficulties, sensory or learning disability or have a problematic use of drugs or alcohol. 

You may help:

• clean someone or get them dressed
• keep your home clean and tidy
• cook family meals
• get your siblings to school on time
• do the shopping.

Whatever you do, you play a vital role in providing the help and support to the person you care for.

Taking on this caring role can significantly affect your own life and you may often find it difficult to cope or that you:

• struggle with school work
• miss school because you are needed or worried about your relative at home
• find it difficult to talk about your life
• don’t have time to see your friends
• are worried that you may be separated from your family if someone finds out what you have to do
• feel isolated and alone
• get frustrated and sad.

You may not realise it but you are not alone. There are many young carers in Brent and they will all share similar experiences.

It is vital that you take time out to look after yourself and enjoy yourself.  

Brent Gateway Partnership provides a range of services such as young carer activities, trips, and events during term time and school holidays as well as opportunities to come together and network.

They also carry out Early Help Assessments (EHAs), provide advocacy support and champion young carers’ rights.

When you care for someone, it can be hard to find the time you need to look after yourself and your family.

It is important that you take time out from your caring role and look after your own physical and emotional well-being.

This is where respite can help.  Respite allows you to take a break, while someone else looks after the person you normally care for.

It gives you time out to look after yourself, which in turn can help you from becoming exhausted and run down.

There are lots of respite care options. They range from getting a volunteer to sit with the person you look after for a few hours, to a short stay in a care home so you can go on holiday.

The person you look after could go to a day care centre. Or, a paid carer could visit them at their home to look after them.

Types of respite care

The main types of respite care are:

• day care centres
• homecare from a paid carer
• a short stay in a care home
• getting friends and family to help
• respite holidays
• sitting services

How to access Respite Care

In some cases respite care is provided as a result of your carer’s assessment, while in others it’s provided through a Needs Assessment for the person you look after.

If your assessment or the assessment for the person you care for shows you need respite care, you might be able to get financial support from the council. However, as respite services are means-tested you or the person you care for may have to contribute towards the cost.

The Brent Gateway Partnership

The Brent Gateway service provides support services for young carers, parent carers of a person with a disability and carers of older people or people with a mental health issue. If you are a carer, they can help you in the following ways:

• carers needs assessments
• providing information and advice in relation to caring for someone
• helping carers to access other services
• outings and activities
• peer support groups
• training for carers
• developing social, health and cultural  interventions

The Brent Gateway website also contains practical advice and a range of information on other support available both locally and nationally. 

Your health and wellbeing

The Primary Care Carer Liaison Service is a nurse–led service that supports carers with health-related issues. It is based at the Willesden Centre for Health and Care and provides a range of support services for carers, including:

• health checks and proactive support and advice on health-related issues
• advice on long-term conditions e.g. Palliative care, End of life care etc.
• development of support pathways with multidisciplinary providers
• guidance on the hospital admission and discharge processes
• needs assessments and ordering necessary equipment
• support and encouragement to manage their own needs as well as the person they care for
• one-to-one training in preventing pressure ulcers and medicine management etc.

More information is available on the Primary Care Carer Liaison Service website

For self-referrals and to determine if you’re eligible, please contact 020 8438 7296 or email: eretta.dowansingh@nhs.net

Your GP

Your GP can help you to look after your own health and well-being, give you advice about caring for people with specific medical conditions and suggest things that can help make things easier for you, such as having doctor’s appointments at home.

If you provide a certain amount of care each week, you can ask you GP for a confirmation letter that you can use as evidence of your caring role in order to qualify for certain benefits.  Ask your GP for details of what other support they can provide and for them to add your name to their carers register.

Financial Support

Carers who provide 35 hours of care a week or more may be eligible for the Carer’s Allowance and in some circumstances, a Council Tax discount.

Carers can also receive travel discounts when accompanying a disabled person as well as free or reduced entry to certain sports and activities.

To find out more about these benefits and how to apply, you can contact the Brent Gateway Services.

Early Help

Our Early Help team provides a range of support for families with children aged 0-18 years old (up to 25 for children with additional needs).

The team works in partnership with families and together will find solutions to a better and happier family life. With Early Help, concerns and problems can be addressed before they become more challenging and need specialist help.

Other support

Juggling work and care can be very challenging, so it’s important to find out about your rights. Your rights in work come from two sources:

• the law gives you ‘statutory rights’ which everyone has
• your contract of employment gives you ‘contractual rights’ which can be more generous than statutory rights

To find out more about your rights at work, you can visit Carers UK. There is also a range of support available for carers nationally, including travel discounts, free admission to various sports/ leisure activities with the person you care for.