FREE TRAINING SESSIONS FOR CARERS ARE BACK!

onfidently Caring is a free 3 day programme designed to help carers improve their life and the life of those they care for.  The programme is one 3 hour session per week for three consecutive weeks and includes tips on coping with stress, healthy eating and looking after yourself.
When: 16th, 23rd and 30th November

At:        10am-1pm
Where: Maidstone Community Support Centre, Marsham Street, Maidstone

To find out more and to book your place call

Maidstone & Malling Carers Project 01622 685276 or email: info@carersmattercic.org

Carers Matter (in Kent) CIC Working in Partnership with

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MONEY SAVING TIPS FOR CARERS

Download your copy of a compilation of money saving tips for carers from Free Cinema Tickets and reduced cost hairdressing to claiming disability benefits.

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CLAIMING EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT ALLOWANCE (ESA)

If you are helping someone to complete an ESA 50 the following Guide to Completing the ESA 50 is really helpful

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CARERS UK POLICY BRIEFING

The Dilnot Commission and carers
The Report of the Dilnot Commission was warmly welcomed across the social care sector. The Care & Support Alliance, 51 national charities representing older and disabled people, those with long-term conditions and their families, has particularly welcomed the Commission’s call for additional funding for social care, a cap to protect against catastrophic care costs and proposals for supporting working age disabled people. The Alliance has called on the Government to set out a timetable reform and publish a White Paper on social care reform by Easter 2012 at the latest.

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The Coalition Government is seeking your views on its proposal to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with a new benefit – ‘Personal Independence Payment’.

Download consultation documents dla-reform-consultation or  dla-reform-consultation-exec-summ.  You can either respond directly to the DWP website link below, email to: consultation.dlareform@dwp.gsi.gov.uk or write to:

DLA Reform Team

1st Floor Caxton House

Tothill Street

London, SW1H 9NA

or feed into the Disability Alliance response by completing their on-line survey.

Disability Alliance Monday 06 December 2010

The Department for Work and Pensions has launched a consultation on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for working age disabled people. This consultation will rename the benefit (‘Personal Independence Payment’) and introduce a new assessment from 2013 for all recipients – but also aims to deliver the Government proposal of cutting the amount of DLA available by 20%.

DLA was introduced in 1990 and implemented in 1992 to help disabled people meet higher costs of living. The Treasury announced in the June 2010 Emergency Budget that 20% of DLA ‘caseload and expenditure’ would be cut. Today’s consultation is set to finalise who will lose support by introducing a new ‘assessment’ process for all people 16-64 years of age receiving DLA. This new assessment will be costly to introduce and administer and has the primary objective of restricting access to this essential benefit for disabled people.

Disability Alliance will be responding to the consultation. If you want to feed into our response please complete our online questionnaire at www.surveymonkey.com/s/dlareform.

The closing date for responses is 14 February 2011.

MMCP RESPONSE TO DLA PUBLIC CONSULTATION

THE STATE OF CARING

Carers UK are launching a major new research survey to assess carers’ health, wellbeing and finances, and the support you receive from health and care services and your employers if you juggle work and care

They are asking for your help to make headlines and make sure the media and politicians listen so they need to reach as many carers as possible in order to get a big response to the survey.  They are aiming for 5,000 responses so if any of you can find a bit of time to complete it you will potentially be helping all carers in the future.

Find the State of Caring survey at www.surveymonkey.com/stateofcaring     

Some of you will remember taking part in national consultations about carers needs which resulted in the development of the National Carers Strategy in 2008. This set out a vision that by 2018:
‘carers will be universally recognized and valued as being fundamental to strong families and stable communities. Support will be tailored to meet individuals need, enabling carers to maintain a balance between their caring responsibilities and a life outside of caring, while enabling the person they support to be a full and equal citizen’. The Strategy sets out some important aims which if achieved would significantly improve life for carers.

The Coalition Government reviewed the Strategy and ‘whilst wishing to maintain the vision’ wanted to set new priorities to ‘ensure maximum value for money in the context of the current economic climate and Government’s top priority of reducing the national deficit’

Thank you to all carers who responded to the call to make their views known regarding priorities for supporting carers.

Carers Response to Refresh of National Carers Strategy

Download Summary

Download Dept of Health Impact Assessment

Download Department of Works and Pensions Impact Assessment

The carers' strategy sets out the Government's short-term agenda and long-term vision for the future care and support of carers.Commitments in the carers’ strategy include: £150 million towards planned short breaks for carers; £38 million towards supporting carers to enter or re-enter the job market and £6 million towards improving support for young carers. Other schemes include the piloting of annual health checks for carers to help them stay well and training for GPs to recognise and support carers.   A more integrated and personalised support service for carers will be offered through easily accessible information, targeted training for key professionals to support carers, and pilots to examine how the NHS can better support carers.

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KENT SEARCH & RESCUE suggest that if you care for someone who is likely to wander off, when you change the clocks each year you also take a photo of the person you care for to make it easier to find them and get them home safe.  You can also complete a 'Life History Questionnaire' form to record information which may help in the search.

www.ksar.co.uk/safe_and_sound.html

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THE KENT CARERS ANNUAL REPORT 2009/10 has now been published -

Kent Carers Annual Report pdf

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CARERS CREDIT - If you are of working age you can apply for a weekly Carer's Credit to protect your State Pension.  You only need to be caring for 20 hours per week or more [incuding combined hours if you care for more than one person].  For more information wwwcarersuk.org

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Thank you to all those carers who took part in the Green Paper

'Shaping the Future of Social Care'

The publication of the White Paper 'Clear & Ambitious Vision for Care', has taken into account a lot of comments carers made. For more information wwwcarersuk.org

Tell the next government it’s time to support carers by signing

the Carers UK Campaign
Help us get better support for carers

Social care is in crisis. The main carers’ benefit is worth just £1.52 an hour. Carers are paying a heavy price.

Carers are saying loud and clear - "It's time to support carers!"

As the general election approaches Carers UK will be campaigning to make sure that whoever forms the next government is left in no doubt that carers need to be a priority. They need as many people as possible to back their campaign and send a message to the next Prime Minister here

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If you would like to receive more information and an application form

to join the scheme please email us at

emergencycard@vam-nline.org.uk

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CARERS ARE A PRIORITY FOR THE NHS
Inequalities in health in Kent - PUBLIC HEALTH ANNUAL REPORT 2007

(See Carers' health - a public health issue page 53)

The new national on-line service for cares 'CARERS DIRECT' is on the NHS Choices website www.nhs.uk/carersdirect