New research reveals health bodies are failing carers

Alarming new research carried out by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care has revealed that approximately £40m of the £50m allocated by the government for carers support is failing to reach carers.

80% of new monies given by government to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in 2009/10 has not been used to increase support for carers as was intended.

These findings come despite the government’s announcement in June 2008, that through the National Carers Strategy £150m would be given to PCTs to provide breaks for carers over two years (April 2009-11). The research shows that the majority of the 81 PCTs out of 130 who responded to a Freedom of Information request are clearly failing to prioritise carers’ needs with indications that they are choosing to spend the money elsewhere, in some cases to cover deficits.

Carole Cochrane, Chief Executive at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers says: “We are alarmed and disappointed at these research findings. Once again, the recognition of carers and their significant contribution is not seen as a priority by local health trusts, even though the countrys' six million carers already save the government an estimated £87 billion a year through caring at home.

"We have learnt from Primary Care Trusts that they are not receiving enough information from the government on how much allocation they will receive and how to spend it. Phil Hope MP, Minister of State for Care Services, has stated in Parliament that it is up to MPs and carers to ensure that PCTs in these areas use their allocation. This does not help carers.”

Anne Roberts, Chief Executive at Crossroads Care concurs: “Carers need support. Without a break they can often reach crisis point where their own physical and mental health deteriorates. When carers reach this point, PCTs will have to provide additional support at additional cost, so failure to provide carers’ breaks is short-sighted.”

Cochrane adds: “It cannot be up to carers to ensure that PCTs spend this allocation. How can the Minister expect carers to hold PCTs to account for how they spend their money when it is the role of PCTs to serve local carers and it is for the government to monitor the PCTs effective impact through the provision of carers’ services?”

David Cameron said on GMTV today that carers should have a right to respite: "What carers want is to have a clear right - a clear entitlement - to some respite and then be able to say to the Local Authority it's my right; I'm going to choose how I take that respite. Rather than be endlessly told by the government this is how it's going to work - and not actually getting the money."

Commenting on the research, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said: “The Government should be ashamed of its failure to provide the help they promised to carers. Many people across the country are in desperate need of this support and ministers chose to wash their hands of this worthy cause as soon as the good headlines had passed.

“Gordon Brown made a grand promise to help people in real need but simply hasn’t delivered. If ministers knew they didn’t have the power to actually make this happen then they shouldn’t have made such a pledge in the first place.

“When these types of funding problems are exposed ministers always duck responsibility by blaming the decisions on local NHS Trusts. This is yet more evidence of why we need locally elected health boards to make the NHS accountable to the people it serves.”

Care Services Minister Phil Hope maintains: "Supporting carers has always been a high priority for this Government.

"That is why, through last year's Carers Strategy, we allocated an extra £150m over two years so that carers can take short breaks. Supporting carers is included in the NHS operating framework and we are working with carers charities in developing guidance for NHS Trusts to help them commission services for carers. We have a range of initiatives in place across the country, including improving training and setting up Carers Direct, a new first stop shop for information for carers.

"We know more needs to be done. That is why we are proposing a radical reform of the social care system so it's simpler, fairer and more affordable."

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care are calling on the government to make public how much of the £100m each PCT spend and call on all PCTs to spend their money on carers as originally proposed.

Further information:

Read the PCT survey findings on our Professionals site

Write to your MP:

Our policy team has produced a template letter to MPs, available for download below:

Template letter to MPs (34 KB)

Support carers and send the government a message by signing this signing this petition, set up by a carer and our Carers’ Centre in Kent: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/pct-carersbreaks

For more information please contact Sarah Ross, PR Manager at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers on 0208 498 7920 / 07791 230 694 / sross@carers.org

Published: 13 October 2009