A funding boost has been announced by the government to improve the lives of unpaid carers and care users.
This will come through projects that will see innovation working to give carers breaks, as well as greater flexibility, with the government committing £22.6 million of investment for initiatives.
Being formally announced today at the National Children and Adult Services Conference by the Minister of State for Care, the funding will be released next week through the Accelerating Reform Fund to support local authority schemes that are successful. These schemes include measures to ensure that unpaid careers are identified and recognised, carers’ assessments are digitised, and setting up carer support services in hospitals.
Some of the initiatives that are being supported nationwide include:
- Local authorities in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire are rolling out technology to enable the remote monitoring of people with care needs at night.
- Video technology is being deployed in Worcestershire to support carers when people are discharged from hospital to allow healthcare workers to monitor them remotely
- Lincolnshire local authorities are developing a programme of arts, heritage and nature activity workshops for unpaid carers and people with care needs
- A Think Carer campaign in London, with local authorities helping people to recognise themselves as carers, whilst also providing additional support through health and lifestyle checks
- Medway Council and Kent County Council are beginning to digitise self-assessments so that information is easy to find for unpaid carers
Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, said:
“Unpaid carers are the country’s unsung heroes: they provide invaluable support to vulnerable people every day.
“It is vital they too have the support they need so they can look after their own health and wellbeing. This funding will allow local authorities to harness the full potential of technology to give carers more flexibility and help with these crucial roles.”
Alongside the above measures, the Accelerating Reform Fund is also helping some areas of the country to scale up community-based care models, with these protecting ‘home first’ principles that will allow people to live independently for longer.
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