Take action : Setting up a carer emergency scheme

Carers UK believes every carer should be offered the option of joining a Carers Emergency Scheme.  Carers UK has already:

• contacted all social services departments in England to remind staff about the importance of offering carers’ assessments and ensuring that emergency planning is routinely offered.
• let every MP, director of social services and the general public, through the media, know about the experiences of Carers UK members in dealing with emergencies
• publicised the benefits of carer emergency schemes

Carers UK has had a lot of queries from carers and social care staff who want to know how to get a scheme started.

Three steps in the right direction.

1) Do your research

A successful scheme requires the backing of the local council, especially the social services and housing departments, and the support of a local carers organisation or carers centre. In order to get a scheme running you’ll need to convince a lot of people so make sure you know why these schemes are necessary and how they work..

• Find out if there is a scheme in your area.
• Read the Back Me Up research report

2) Don't reinvent the wheel

Almost every local authority in England will have an existing Community Alarm scheme, usually run by the housing department of the local council. These are often known as “panic buttons” and are aimed at vulnerable people who live alone. Most Carer Emergency Schemes "tap into" this existing resource, by using the call centre infrastructure to register the carers emergency plan.

• Read our briefing on planning for emergencies.
  

3) Enlist supporters

Carers Emergency Schemes are a proven way of giving carers peace of mind. If they are set up by using existing resources such as Community Alarm schemes, they can also be very cost effective. For this reason they are an idea that everyone should be able to get behind.

Find out if there are already local partnerships to develop services for carers. For example every local council should have a local carers’ strategy and most will have a steering group to take the strategy forward. Enlist the support of local carer and disability organisations.

• Download our sample letter and write to your local MP, leader of your local council, Director of Social Services, local press etc.