Update – Covid-19 vaccine for unpaid carers

The Department of Social Care has released its operating procedure for ensuring that unpaid Carers are identified and prioritised to receive the COVID vaccine. Carers will be identified using information from a number of sources:

  • those in receipt or entitled to carers allowance
  • those known to GPs who have a ‘carer’s flag’ on their primary care record
  • those known to Local Authorities who are in receipt of support following a carer’s assessment
  • those known to local carers organisations to be actively receiving care and support.

Carers who are registered as a carer with their GP will be contacted by phone, letter or text by their local Primary Care (GP) Network and invited to book a vaccination at a local Primary Care vaccination centre. Carers identified through the other sources will be contacted by the National Booking Service (NHS Digital) via letter and be asked to arrange an appointment at a vaccination centre or community pharmacy.

If you would like support in registering  as an unpaid carer with your GP/Primary Care Network in the Middlesbrough or Redcar and Cleveland Local Authority areas, please call our team on 01642 488977.

Click the link below to access the COVID-19 vaccine standard operating  procedure for unpaid carers:

COVID19_vaccine_standard_operating_procedure_for_unpaid_carers

 

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Unpaid Carers – 2021 Census

The 2021 Census takes place on March 21st and includes a question about people’s caring roles.  The question is included as a way of providing local authorities with a better understanding of Carer needs in the local area and can help decide what funding the government gives to local authorities through the carer’s grant.

If you look after, or provide unpaid help or support to anyone because they have a long-term physical or mental health condition or illness, or problems related to old age, you are an unpaid Carer.  You do not have to be in receipt of Carer’s Allowance to be included in this category.  By sharing details of your unpaid caring role on the census, you will help to build a national and regional picture of how social care services would be affected without the support you provide.

For more information on the question and its purpose please visit census.gov.uk

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Carers UK reaction to Budget 2021

Despite repeated requests from Carers and caring organisations across the UK, we were very disappointed to see that additional support for unpaid Carers was not included in yesterday’s budget statement.  The requested supplement to the Carer’s Allowance and additional funding for health and social care services were noticeably absent and will mean continuing financial hardship for unpaid Carers. We will continue to support Carers UK in their #fairerforcarers campaign, pushing for these much needed changes.  Click here to read more from Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK.

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COVID Vaccine for Carers – Latest news from NHS Tees Valley CCG

If you are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, you can have your Covid-19 vaccine at a large vaccination or local pharmacy site by booking online here.

If you do not receive Carers Allowance but are registered on your GP health care records as the primary carer of an elderly or disabled person, who is at increased risk of Covid-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable, then your local GP service will contact you to arrange a vaccination.

Please remember that the only the primary carer is eligible for vaccination.

If you would like Carers Together to inform your GP of your caring role then please contact us on 01642 488977.

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Carers UK welcomes news that unpaid carers will be in next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations

As of today (Monday 15th February), unpaid carers in England are included in the next phase of the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine and will begin to be called forward for their first jab.

NHS England has written to GP practices and Primary Care Networks asking them to start focusing on the vaccination of priority group 5 and 6 including unpaid carers.  

Eligible carers will be contacted via the National Booking System to receive an invitation to book their vaccination. The GP guidance also states that local areas can flex these arrangements to administer the vaccine to carers directly.

Carers UK looks forward to seeing the publication of NHS England’s Standing Operating Procedure, due to be published next week, which will detail exactly how eligible carers will be identified and contacted for their jabs.

You can see Carers UK’s press release in full here.

If you aren’t already registered with your GP as an unpaid carer, we try and work with you and your surgery to try to put this in place for you.  Contact us on 01642 488977 or via our contact form.

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PPE for Carers

Unpaid carers across the country who do not live with the people they care for can now benefit from free PPE through a new national scheme, the government has confirmed.

To find out more about the scheme click here.

If you would like support in accessing PPE through this scheme, please contact our team on 01642 488977.

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Fairer for Carers

Carers UK are calling on the Government to urgently act to address the financial hardship that many unpaid carers face due to their caring responsibilities.

To support carers through the COVID-19 pandemic, Carers UK are calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, to award a £20 a week supplement to carers entitled to Carer’s Allowance, helping carers manage both the higher costs of caring and the lack of services available to help them stay in work.

This would match the increases awarded to those on Universal Credit. Currently, over 480,000 carers with an entitlement to Carer’s Allowance have each lost out on close to £1000 of support since April 2020, compared to those on Universal Credit.

On Wednesday 3 February 2021 they delivered a letter signed by 5062 people to the Chancellor, calling on him to put in place more support for carers, including addressing the financial hardship carers are facing and introducing a £20 a week supplement for people entitled to Carer’s Allowance. You can read the letter here.

You can show your support by retweeting Carers UK’ Tweet or by sending your own Tweet or Facebook post to the Chancellor, using @rishisunak and #FairerForCarers.

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COVID Vaccine for Carers

The COVID pandemic has had a significant effect on the lives of Carers, but we know that there are many more people in our local area who provide support to a family member of friend without realising that they are actually unpaid Carers.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has included unpaid carers in Group 6 of the vaccination priority list but we, and many other carer organisations, would like to see unpaid carers being vaccinated at the same time as the person they care for.  A key way of being identified as an unpaid carer is being registered as such with your GP practice.  If you aren’t already registered with your GP, we can work with you and your surgery to try to put this in place for you.

Please call us on 01642 488977 for more information on how we can help you.

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Policy Briefing: Unpaid carers status for COVID-19 vaccination in England

On 30th December 2020, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published updated advice which recommends that carers who are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, or who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer contracted COVID-19, should be included in Priority 6.

Carers UK has been campaigning for unpaid carers to be included in the priority lists for the COVID-19 vaccine in the same way that they are for the flu jab. We warmly welcomed their inclusion and the alignment with the COVID-19 Green Book on vaccination information for health professionals.

You can access the briefing here.

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Employers for Carers

We are delighted to announce that Carers Together is now a member of Employers for Carers and over the next few months we will be working towards the Carer Confident Accreditation.

The Carer Confident Accreditation is a benchmarking scheme which assists employers to build a supportive and inclusive workplace for staff who are or will become carers and to make the most of the talents that carers can bring to the workplace.

If you are a working carer and would like to know how we can support you in your caring role, then please contact us on 01642 488977.

To read more about Employers for Carers the visit the website by clicking here.

 

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