Carers Rights Day - Getting the right information at the right time

Today is Carers Right Day - a campaign led by partner organisation Carers UK. Sherone Phillips, a carer with over 30 years experience and a member of TLAP's National Co-production Advisory Group, blogs about her experiences and what the day means to her.

About Carers Rights Day

Having the right information at the right time can make a huge difference when you are looking after someone.

Each year we hold Carers Rights Day to bring organisations across the UK together to help carers in their local community know their rights and find out how to get the help and support they are entitled to.

This year's theme is Looking after someone? Know your rights and will focus on:

• Making carers aware of their rights.
• Letting carers know where to get help and support.
• Raising awareness of the needs of carers.

http://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/campaigns/carers-rights-day

Carers UK have taken on the words spoken by many who can often be heard saying post-crisis, "if only I knew then what I know now, things would have been different". They use this phrase to highlight the need for good information, at the right time.

Throughout my 34 years of caring, I can definitely echo that point. For instance, if I had understood the impact of mental health acute hospitals on adolescents and adults, I would have handled my son's crisis differently. If I had known my rights, I would have insisted on staying in control rather than having all power taken from him and me. And that was at a time when I worked as a Local Authority Health and Social Care Manager knowing a lot about how the system works but not enough to help me as an individual carer. Being in crisis, thrown into dark unknown territory is a frightening but common experience for carers.

The Care Act has, for the first time, put carers on an equal footing as those cared for. This means that local authorities have a legal responsibility to care for carers. In reality, they have been doing this for years. Many are doing an excellent job. Those that have been doing it well have nothing to fear, they just need to carry on doing the same. For me, the light bulb went on when I realised that general information on the 'system' needs to be out there for 'new' carers -particularly those that are just sliding into the role without even realising it. They are the ones that need to be caught and helped at the earliest point, before they hit a crisis - that dark and unfamiliar (but not uncharted territory). We need to help them understand their new role. No, first, help them recognise that they have a new role, because "whether you care for a few hours a week, or all the time, you are a carer" - Carers Uk website.

It's those people doing the "few hours a week" that don't get recognised at all, mainly because they don't see themselves as carers. But they are part of the 6.5 million people who are in a similar position who need to be identified so they can get the support at the right time. After all, carers having the right support at the right time can actually save money. In my case, if I had known then what I know now, my son could have avoided a 10 week stay in acute hospital and saved thousands of NHS pounds.

Today I'm doing my bit to support Carers Right Day. I'm presenting to Luton carers about what the Care Act means for them and explaining the value of coproduction - what it means and why they need to get involved.