Borders Carers Centre within NHS Borders
The Carers Centre has been operating in the Borders since 1995 and is the only carer's organisation in the area. The Scottish Borders has a population density of 23 per square km, making it one of the most sparsely populated areas in Scotland. Within the Scottish Borders there is no city or conurbation that forms a central focal point. Over two thirds of the population live outside the main towns of Hawick and Galashiels and one third live outside settlements of 1,500. It is estimated that there are 11,430 adult carers and 2000 young carers in the Scottish Borders.
The Moffat project at Borders Carers Centre will work closely with Borders General Hospital to provide and promote information, training and Carer’s Assessments. There will be three staff members as follows:
The Carers’ Liaison Worker will focus on setting up protocols with health and social work around discharge and assessments and will also feed into the planning of current and new service delivery. The worker will provide 6 weeks of intensive input to new carers identified through the work carried out at Borders General Hospital. These carers will then be supported by the carers centre worker for their area.
The Training Officer will focus on establishing on-going training for professionals, with input from carers. This will develop understanding of carers’ issues and ensure long term improvements in identification and support for carers.
The Administrator’s job will have an information element, in addition to record keeping and enhancing the work of the staff team, to ensure that good quality information is available to carers and professionals alike.
Borders Carers Centre has already identified joint work with Borders General Hospital as a priority within their development plan. This is the only hospital within the Borders’ region and it is supported by a small number of cottage hospitals. Joint working has also been identified as a priority in the Borders Carers Strategy and the NHS Carers Information Strategy. NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Council’s Social Work Services Department have both expressed a desire to ask carers to assist with the delivery of training and this pilot fits well with these intentions. It is the plan that through this pilot links will be created with the Hospital and community services to enable continuity of support to carers.
The Scottish Borders provides a number of challenges for service delivery including: an ageing population which is higher than the Scottish average; workforce availability; the rural nature of the area and poor transport links both within and outwith the area. However, as previously stated both local statutory organisations have expressed a desire to work with carers as key partners and this project fits well with plans already in place.
