Today campaigners from Dementia Carers Count (DCC) handed in an open letter to the Minister of State for Social Care calling for the urgent publication of a long-term, fully funded carers’ strategy. The letter has been co-signed by over 1,500 people concerned about the plight of family carers who all too often feel forgotten and ignored.
There are over 700,000 families in the UK caring for someone with dementia. Many have had no choice but to care and find their experiences overwhelming. DCC’s research shows that one in five dementia carers regularly reaches crisis.
DCC is calling for a carers’ strategy which prioritises carers’ well-being through: better identification of people who are caring; better recognition of carers’ different needs; improved signposting of carers’ rights and provision of free, condition-specific, personalised support and learning opportunities at every stage of a carers’ journey.
Frances Lawrence, Dementia Carers Count CEO said: “The government is working on a major conditions strategy which aims to enable people to live ‘healthy, fulfilled, independent and longer lives’. We want carers to benefit from this aspiration. All too often, people caring for others lose their identity and neglect their health needs. With the ongoing crisis in social care, unpaid carers are filling gaps. Not surprisingly, many are mentally and physically exhausted.
“A carers’ strategy should urgently tackle this and give carers the practical and emotional support they desperately need.”