A new support service has launched in Thurrock to help carers who are struggling to look after themselves and their loved ones.
The Thurrock Ageing Well Carers Intensive Support team is run by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), which provides a similar service in the Southend area.
It helps people who are:
- looking after someone who has dementia, or
- aged over 65 and looking after someone also aged over 65 who has frailty, a mental health condition, or is receiving palliative care.
The team helps carers access support with their health and wellbeing, financial concerns, respite care, and any other services that will ease worry and pressure on how they will continue caring for their loved one as well as themselves.
Carers also receive a comprehensive health and wellbeing check, which looks at their physical, mental, emotional and social health and wellbeing.
Nancy Smith, Carers Intensive Support Lead, said: “Carers do an amazing job looking after their loved ones, often in challenging circumstances.
“We know it can feel overwhelming and sometimes isolating, so we are there to make sure they don’t feel alone and they are getting the support they need too.
“We work closely with other health, social care and community teams who specialise in dementia, older people’s mental health and frailty, and charity and community organisations.
“This enables us to make sure carers get the right support, as quickly as possible.”
EPUT first offered the service in the Southend area in April 2022 after staff noticed a large rise in family carers who were struggling to cope during the Covid pandemic.
It’s part of the Trust’s commitment to providing personalised, inclusive care that improves mental health for everyone.
The service in Thurrock has been commissioned by Thurrock Council and is only available to carers who live in the district.
Carers who think the service could benefit them should speak to any professional involved with their own care or that of their loved one.
This week (18 – 24 May) is Dementia Action Week, anawareness campaign led by Alzheimer’s Society that brings people and organisations together to act on dementia.
You can read more about where to get support on the Alzheimer’s Society website or Dementia UK website.
About EPUT:
- EPUT has a vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care: Who we are – Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
- EPUT provides services to more than 100,000 patients at any one time and our staff are focused on providing high quality care in often complex situations.
- The organisation has invested in inpatient facilities and community services to make them safer and more therapeutic. We have extensively invested in technology to keep patients safer, enhanced training, and are continuously working with our staff, patients, their families and carers to use learning and best practice to enhance our quality of care.
- While there is more to do, the Trust has made significant progress through innovation:
- Our 111 mental health crisis phone line ensures people in need can access support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- People with lived experience have been employed in designated roles across the Trust, ensuring patient voice is heart of the organisation and all that we do.
- A number of new initiatives have been launched, helping people access the support they need when they need it most. These include a mental health urgent care department, By Your Side maternal mental health service, Rough Sleeper team, mental health crisis ambulance cars, virtual wards and neuromodulation service.
- EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 and provides community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex, Luton and Bedfordshire and Suffolk. We employ more than 7,200 staff working across more than 200 sites.
- To read more about our priorities and commitments to deliver the highest quality and safest care possible, visit https://eput.nhs.uk/about-us/2023-2028-strategic-plan/