DR ROS ALTMANN, SAGA, CALLS FOR RING-FENCING OF GOVERNMENT £400M FOR RESPITE CARE AND MORE SUPPORT FOR CARERS.

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA

QUOTES

September 12, 2011.

PRINCESS ROYAL TRUST FOR CARERS STUDY: DR ROS ALTMANN, SAGA, CALLS FOR RING-FENCING OF GOVERNMENT £400M FOR RESPITE CARE AND MORE SUPPORT FOR CARERS.

Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s organisation Saga, commenting on a study by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, which says older carers are themselves suffering failing health because of their efforts.

“Saga frequently sees the impact of the caring burden on family carers.
We appreciate the strain - both physical and mental - that caring can place on families struggling to look after their loved ones. Indeed, we have set up a charity specifically to help provide much-needed respite care for older carers,” said Dr Ros Altmann, Saga Director-General and a trustee of the Saga Respite for Carers Trust.

"We urge the Government to take this issue more seriously and, in particular, we call on Ministers to ensure that the £400 million allocated for respite care a few months ago is properly ring-fenced for that purpose.

"Unpaid carers save billions of pounds for society, but they need more support and some respite can massively improve the quality of life of carers. The Report from the Princess Royal Trust highlights some big problems and, as our population of older people is set to vastly increase in coming years, its findings are quietly alarming.

“That so many older carers - some surveyed were reported to be 94 years of age - are reporting failing physical or mental health because of their commitment to loved ones is of absolutely no surprise to those in the frontline of care and those who are trying to drive care reform. It’s only going to become a bigger issue – the number of carers is expected to rise from 6 million to 9 million in the next 25 years.

“Carers need breaks. Respite care will allow carers to continue their
massively valuable role for as long as possible, and this could be achieved, at least in part, by ring-fencing the £400m Government has allocated for respite breaks - but the sad fact is that as it is not ring-fenced, carers are unlikely to see the whole benefit of this investment. This is something which the Government could and should act upon today.

“It is not in the nature of carers to complain, so it is vital that their friends and supporters persist in driving awareness of the plight of carers – and it is absolutely crucial that GPs are vigilant in overseeing the health of carers, doing everything possible to provide them with both screening and support. We also believe that GPs should be able to prescribe respite or even domiciliary care.

“The benefits associated with a trained and supported workforce to provide respite support and a care team to provide cover when the pressures of caring for a loved one become too great should not be underestimated in either social or financial terms.

“Unpaid carers receive minuscule financial support and benefits - yet they are amongst the hardest working people in society; many do not have the option ever to take a break of two weeks – or sometimes even two minutes.”

Ends

Further information:
Dr. Ros Altmann
Director-General, Saga
ros.altmann@saga.co.uk
www.saga.co.uk
07545 504513
Twitter @SagaRosAltmann

Saga Press Office

01303 771529.

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

ROS ALTMANN: WE’RE HEADING FOR A CARE CRISIS TO OUTSTRIP THE PENSIONS CRISIS.

ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR GENERAL, SAGA

SAGA RESPITE FOR CARERS TRUST

PRESS RELEASE

November 8, 2010.

ROS ALTMANN: WE’RE HEADING FOR A CARE CRISIS TO OUTSTRIP THE PENSIONS CRISIS.

Ros Altmann, who warned the last government of an impending pensions crisis, says that care could escalate to become a bigger financial crisis than pensions unless the current government gets an iron grip on care funding.

Dr Altmann, Director General of Saga, and a director of the Saga Respite for Carers Trust, warned: “The care issue is a time bomb. We can hear it ticking, and there is a clear strand of inevitability: it is not going to go away, it is going to get bigger – every statistic says that.

“There seems to be a great deal going on relating to care, but nothing actually happening. Every care- and age-related charity or support group and now the media itself – in the form of the BBC, no less – is acutely aware and extremely active in highlighting the current plight and future dangers associated with a growing elderly population,” said Ros Altmann.

“The people most affected, and their carers, are literally running out of time. There needs to be a decisive change in how care is provided and paid for. There is a complete lack of joined-up thinking between NHS and local government-provided care, with the problem being passed from one authority to another.

“The government’s political horizon is a great deal closer than the care horizon. Those in government allegedly tackling the care issue should be starting to think like statesmen rather than politicians, and look beyond that political horizon.

“Saga is in a unique position of being expert in both financial- and care-related issues. We can see this problem looming; other care and age issue experts can see it, but I fear the government can’t see it. Because it’s not visible or relevant to the majority of people, there seems to be no sense of urgency.

“We saw precisely that with the pensions crisis and the lending crisis; things were allowed to escalate unchecked, and cost billions of pounds to sort out when a much smaller investment at the outset would have prevented what became a massive problem.

“But we must not lose sight of the victims of the care shortfall. That around 80% of local authorities surveyed by the BBC say they are changing how much they spend on care is not just provoking uncertainty amongst the elderly and their carers, but potentially a postcode lottery too. What if, for example, of two neighbouring local authorities one declares it is cutting care spending and the other increasing it? There’s potentially a cross-boundary stampede which will make a complex situation even more complicated.

“The impact could be vast – it must be sorted out, and the next financial time bomb defused before it’s too late for the elderly and infirm, their carers – and the British economy.”

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.saga.co.uk

£3,500-A-YEAR CARERS CONTINUOUSLY SUBJECT TO SEVEN OF TOP TEN WORKPLACE STRESSES.

EMMA SOAMES
SAGA RESPITE FOR CARERS TRUST
PRESS RELEASE

June 17, 2010.

£3,500-A-YEAR CARERS CONTINUOUSLY SUBJECT TO SEVEN OF TOP TEN WORKPLACE STRESSES.

Watch video

Carers “earn” around 11% of what they could make if they took their skills into the care profession – yet they are subjected almost continually to seven of the top ten workplace stresses in looking after their loved ones.

Emma Soames, of the Saga Respite for Carers Trust, speaking during Carers Week 2010 (watch video), says that government ministers have to prove their own worth by showing they’re in touch with the real challenges faced by carers.

“Carers will never complain, so I’m going to have a swipe on their behalf. There’s a heck of a lot going on, but not much actually happening in Whitehall – and every day of delay is keeping carers on the edge. Carers should protest, but they’re too tired and busy saving the government something like £90 billion a year to be able to get out on the streets and in the faces of politicians – some of whom used care as a ticket into Parliament,” said Emma Soames, 60.

“Carers don’t care a fig for the money, they care about their loved one; income is not viewed in the same way as the majority of people - as some sort of competition prize or as a means to life enhancement no matter how big or small - it is viewed as a utility,” said Emma Soames.

“Taking a mean average of the various calculations on income, carers receive around £3,500 a year to look after an elderly, infirm or distressed loved one.

“Nurses, who do a stunning job, earn around £30,000 – but to my mind, some of the UK’s six million carers, who ‘work’ 24 hour ‘shifts’, are as focussed and capable as some of the highest-paid healthcare professionals who earn £60,000 and more.

“If we take recent research, then carers, for their pitiful financial support, are subject almost continuously to seven of the top ten workplace stresses: workload, feeling undervalued, the type of work they have to do, taking on other people’s work, lack of control over the working day, working long hours and frustration with the working environment.

“To date, the coalition government has failed to implement changes to support carers, choosing instead to further delay the process with yet another review. 

“The disappointment is both the Tories and the Lib-Dem proposals on the run up to the election were promising, with Tories proposing to extend direct payments to help people take control of their care needs, and improved access to respite care.  The Lib-Dems, however, appeared to have the most carer-friendly proposal that would look to offer a week's respite break for the estimated one million carers who spend more than 50 hours a week providing care.

“During the election campaigns, most political parties recognised the huge contribution made by the UK’s army of six million carers, but few really know what it’s like to walk in a carer’s shoes for a day. 

“I’m throwing down the gauntlet to these politicians who rode into Parliament on a care ticket, and challenge them to spend time with carers to get a true appreciation of the mental and physical strain that they face on a daily basis.”

The main carers’ allowance is £53.10 per week, which equates to just £1.52 per hour for a standard 35 hour week, although many of the 6 million carers throughout the UK work well in excess of a 50 hour week.  

Whilst funding is identified as a key concern for carers, one of the biggest issues is the fact that almost a quarter (24 per cent) have never taken a holiday away from their caring responsibilities. This figure rises to 31 percent among those who have been carers for more than 10 years. Despite the previous government’s commitment to provide funding for respite breaks, their failure to ring fence it has meant that in many of the Primary Care Trusts the funds are not reaching carers.

“The Saga Respite for Carers Trust is doing what government should do – provide respite breaks for long-term unpaid carers.  Nominations and stories sent to the Saga Respite for Carers Trust paints a very stark  picture of the lives of carers,  one that shows that many are reaching the end of their tether, their own health affected by the constant stress and demands of looking after a chronically ill or disabled loved one,” said Emma Soames.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mYb-ewWPAM

Ends

Editorial Notes:

Nominations can be made on line at saga.co.uk/health/carers.  The deadline for nominations to the trust is 31^st August 2010.  Terms apply.

Alternatively nomination forms can be obtained by writing to Saga Respite for Carers Trust , The Saga Building, Enbrook Park, Folkestone, Kent CT20 3SE.

There are in the region of 6 million Carers in the UK, split regionally as follows: 

East of England 520,209
East Midlands 435,741
London 609,890
North East 276,593
North West 724,802
Northern Ireland 185,066
Scotland 481,579
South East 737,751
South West 495,442
Wales 340,745
West Midlands 558,421
Yorkshire & The Humber 518,211

Ends

Further information:
Iain Macauley im@pressrelations.co.uk
07788 978800 www.saga.co.uk

Emma Soames, editor-at-large, was editor of Saga Magazine from 2002-2008. Previously she edited the Telegraph Magazine for seven years and before that was editor of ES Magazine, Tatler and the Literary Review.