Many carers across the UK are unaware of their legal rights and what support and benefits they are entitled to. You can find out more about these rights on the Carers UK website.
Patrick Matten, co-production lead for the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) Carer Network, said: “A carer can be anyone who provides unpaid care to someone who needs it and cannot cope without their support.
“They could be supporting a friend, family member or partner who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health condition or an addiction.
“We recognise it can be difficult for carers to see their caring role as separate from the relationship they have with that person, but you are entitled to support, even if you don’t see yourself as being a carer.”
We are developing the EPUT Carer Network, which is open to anyone who is, or has previously been, a carer for someone who has used our services.
Email [email protected] if you are interested in joining.
The network is one of the ways in which we are expanding our support for carers.
We are recruiting Family and Carer Ambassadors to work in all our mental health inpatient wards to provide practical and emotional support for patients’ families.
These roles are part of our Time to Care programme, which is transforming how we deliver mental health inpatient services to ensure every patient receives high quality personalised care to support their long term recovery.
It follows the success of Family Ambassadors who currently support the families of young patients receiving inpatient care from our child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
They are non-clinical professionals who have personal experience of loved ones having been cared for by CAMHS. They ensure families have a voice in their child’s care and help them to understand their rights and access the support they are entitled to.
EPUT also has a number of support networks for family and carers of people who receive care from specific services. For example, we have a network for family and carers of people living with an eating disorder, and the I Care Support Group for loved ones and carers of people living with personality disorder and/or complex emotional needs.