Unpaid Carers in Haringey - Is the New Strategy Enough?

Ten years ago I attended a very emotionally fraught meeting between unpaid carers in Haringey and the Council. The distress of the carers made a deep impression on me.

This morning in HoL's mail box, there was a press release about a new carers' strategy. I do hope this hasn't been the first significant intervention since 2010. If it is, I can't imagine the distress there's been in the intervening period.

But, looking forward, I do hope that this new approach will fill the gaps that were so very evident a decade ago. 

In short, the strategy focuses on five themes:

• Caring role – Supporting carers in their role
• Health and wellbeing – Supporting carers' physical and mental health needs, and helping them adjust to changes in their caring role
• Housing and managing at home – ensuring carers have a safe, appropriate and habitable housing, and are aware of the range of housing adaptations and assistive technologies on offer
• Finances, benefits and debt – supporting carers to maximise income, minimise expenditure, manage debt, and access good quality, independent legal advice
• Having a life – developing opportunities to take breaks from caring, maintaining employment, and keeping carers’ relationships at the forefront of our thinking.

Full details on strategy in attached publication.