Plea for help for struggling NI carers
One in five adults in NI are now caring for a sick or disabled family member or friend
Last updated 8th Jun 2022
This Carers Week charities are calling for an urgent 12-month plan of targeted support for unpaid carers in Northern Ireland.
New figures show that 89% of the public in NI think that Stormont should provide additional support to unpaid carers – higher than anywhere else in the UK.
This includes increased financial support and investment in care and support services so that unpaid carers can have a break.
The report also shows that there are more unpaid carers across the country in 2022 than before the pandemic, with 20% of adults (approximately 290,880 people) now supporting a relative, close friend or neighbour because of chronic illness, including mental ill-health, dementia, disability, or older age.
According to the charities many carers are struggling with the ongoing impact, as well as the negative legacy, of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with the strain of the social care and cost-of-living crises.
Roisin McMackin lives in NI and provides full-time care for her four daughters, who live with autism and co-morbid conditions.
She said: “As one of the over quarter of a million carers in Northern Ireland, I find that support is practically non-existent, and hours get longer as the demands increase.
“It’s impossible to get any free time or go back to work due to the financial and physical demands of the responsibilities to my daughters. Covid made the situation worse.
“Carers are the forgotten backbone of society, an undervalued commodity who suffer at the expense of their health.”
Carers Week charities are calling for a recovery and respite plan dedicated to the needs of carers in Northern Ireland, including specific investment in mental health support, boosting carer’s incomes to reduce the risk of poverty and hardship, help with food and energy costs and, ahead of the winter, prioritisation in the vaccination programme.
According to the charities the intensity of care they are providing has grown, with several factors possibly having an impact.
Craig Harrison, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Carers Northern Ireland, said while life has largely returned to normal for the local population, “this isn’t the reality for many of our unpaid carers.”
He added: “They continue to go without full access to many of the support services that were closed or reduced during the pandemic, and as our research shows, this is pushing many to breaking point with their physical and mental health.
“The simple reality is that Northern Ireland’s health and social care system would collapse without unpaid carers.
“They have provided an even larger amount of care during the pandemic and now is the time to start repaying that by giving them the support they’ve been crying out for.
“We want to see the Executive established as soon as possible so that Ministers can begin introducing the policy change those carers need, starting with the return of day services and measures to protect carers from the brutal impact of the cost-of-living crisis.”
A statement from the Department said it remains committed to supporting carers, and seeking to find additional ways to provide support where it can, and where pressures allow.
It said: “We recognise that unpaid carers are a lifeline for those that they care for, and the health service could not survive without each and every one of them.
“The Support for Carers’ Fund launched last year, is actively providing assistance and support for carers on the ground.
In regard to Day Centres the Department said Trusts continue to deliver day care and respite services at a reduced level, subject to health protection guidance.
The statement continued: “To date, significant efforts have been made by Trusts to implement the Public Health Agency Pathway to manage Covid-19 risk, while increasing service provision on a phased basis. Trusts have indicated that the Pathway has allowed for an increase in service provision, however they have yet to reach pre-pandemic capacity and there remains further adjustments to public health guidance before services can be fully restored.
“The Department has commissioned the PHA to undertake an urgent review of the remaining barriers in respite services and the Minister has committed to publishing periodic updates to all relevant stakeholders and publically on performance and capacity.”
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