The Unscripted Carer – 19th July 2008
I have been doing this “job” of caring for well over a year now, and I still have not really got my head around where time disappears to. Nicola needs full time (24*7) help and support, at times, so does our older dog! It doesn’t really matter why you wake up for the umpteenth time during the night, it still makes the next day that bit harder! It also means that the morning routine is disrupted, because that is when you are asleep! It has taken me all this time to realise that there is nothing especially unique about the weekend, Saturday and Sunday are just “normal caring” days, and not a two day break from work. I am getting much more relaxed about “things” drifting into the weekend, and this does seem to lower the stress levels when the week’s “to do” list is not finished by Friday.
On a much more positive side, I have still not got used to the casual kindnesses from friends, neighbours, people that you “just meet” and the “hard nosed” businesses / shop keepers in Rugby that remind me just how kind the world really is. I hope that I never get to take this for granted, otherwise I fear that I will get drawn into the “media view” that the whole world is evil and somehow conspires against me.
I am currently looking forward to my first free bus pass – only a few days to go, I wonder if it will arrive in time? I am not sure what to do with it once I get it, as I still need someone to be with Nicola if I am out of the house. At least I should be able to get in to Rugby and not worry about parking the car – I wonder if I will be so upbeat when I just miss the hourly bus service home, and have to walk it? (I wonder if my ankle will object too much to the walk?)
When I started to become involved with helping other carers, I was a little taken aback by the fairly cynical and hard bitten approach of “yet another talking shop”. I think it was the naivety of myself and a few fellow “new” carers (together with the unbounded enthusiasm of a few well known friends in Social Services!) that kept us going.
However, a year older, and several years wiser, I understand where they were coming from, and it just makes me more determined to make “our baby” deliver something and be the best in Warwickshire!
There are lots of initiatives taking place, here are just I few that I am aware of:
- Direct Payments (10 years up to 2006)
- Direct Payments (2006)
- Direct Payments (2007)
- Direct Payments (2008) – the latest in a set of constantly moving goal posts! Under the guidance of Liz Bruce, this is now delivering a much improved service for its customers
- Emergency Cards – these work, but are not widely taken up
- Emergency Plans – why don’t all carers take advantage of these?
- Carer’s Assessments – why don’t all carers take advantage of these?
- Individual Budgets – these are building on the foundations of Direct Payments
- Self Assessments – to be trialled this year
- Various Partnership Boards – a response to various Government initiatives
- Various Carers’ Forum – a WCC initiative in North Warwickshire (a different initiative is being tried out in South Warwickshire)
- “Putting People First” – this seems to be a really odd initiative! I have spent over 40 years in businesses that range from manufacturing to “providing services”, and the golden rule in every company has always been to look after the customer, and that everybody is your customer. It seems bizarre that the County Council, which is a pure service industry has only now realised that its customers matter – check your calendar, it is now the 21st century! No matter how belated this is, at least the penny seems to be dropping.
- A three year Carer Strategy / Implementation Plan – this has become “our baby”. So far WCC (Elaine Cook!) has consulted and organised over 200 carers and analysed well over a man years worth of input and feedback from the carers to identify 14 “strategy initiatives”. We organised a workshop that was attended by over 50 carers to flesh out the “strategy initiatives” with “What we want” and “Success Criteria”. The next step, on 25th July, is to get the providers, including the PCTs (“hospitals”!!) to agree what actions they will take to make it happen. Although this work started within the Council, it was moved forwards by a few determined (naïve?) carers and it now has the wider support of the Carer’s Partnership Board; Graeme Betts (a very senior figure within the Council) and our local MP. There is a very serious commitment to ensure that this will not be yet another talking shop – “our baby” will be different!!!
As I seem to be involved, in some small way, with quite a few of the above, perhaps that also explains where some of my time goes!!
Bye for now
Graham
