We are committed, alongside our partner agencies, to supporting unpaid carers. There are a wealth of programmes available this year, alongside some changes to the carer lanyard process from next Monday 10 June (see below for more information).
Our ambitions to support unpaid carers for this coming year include:
- Increased recognition and identification of unpaid carers
- Increased support for unpaid carers
- Increased involvement of unpaid carers
Associate Director of Nursing for Medicine, David Britton, said: “We have many excellent programmes of work underway which will support these ambitions including Person Centred Care; Digital Transformation; Hospital Discharge Toolkit and the recruitment of unpaid carers within our Experts by Experience.
A rolling programme of training sessions to support our ambitions is planned for this year. If you would like to request a training session for a team meeting or other event within your area, or you would like to volunteer to be a champion to promote the initiatives to support unpaid carers at the Trust, please email Debbie Taylor (Debbie.taylor@cht.nhs.uk).
David added: “We have recognised that the referral process and access to lanyards has been limited in comparison to the number of unpaid carers who visit and support the Trust. To reduce barriers to accessing lanyards these will now be situated within each Site Commander’s office and you can collect lanyards as required for your area.”
A change to the carer lanyard process
The patient experience team will not require a form to be completed for lanyards from next Monday, 10th June, and a lanyard will no longer automatically result in unlimited free parking and meals.
Lanyards will be held in each Site Commander’s office from that date, and you can collect them as needed.
Parking assistance will be provided where applicable in line with the CHFT Parking Concession Policy which is available on the Policies and Documents Library and audited by Estates and Facilities. For unpaid carers who travel via other means this link may be helpful to explore the NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).
A car parking authorisation form must be completed in line with the above policy, and is available on the Keep Carers Caring intranet page.
Carers who are resident for long periods and / or overnight should be offered hot drinks and a sandwich.
Our partner agencies Making Spaces (for Calderdale residents) and Carers Count (for Kirklees residents) are the experts in providing carer assessments. Both signpost and support carers to the wealth of support which is available locally. Carers can refer themselves, and the partner agencies are soon to install a post box in our main entrances. If you would like to make a referral in the meantime and have consent, please see contact details below:
Making Space Calderdale
01422 369 101 or www.makingspace.co.uk
Carers Count Kirklees
0300 102 0231
We will be updating our public website information in due course.