It is estimated that there are over 138,000 carers in Lancashire providing unpaid care to a partner, family member or friend.

Many people do not realise that they are carers.

Carers can be anyone who provides unpaid care for relatives or friends who are ill, frail, or a disability, have mental health or substance misuse issues. This care could be provided 24/7, or just for a few hours a week. It might involve helping someone get washed and dressed, going shopping for someone, cooking meals if they are unable to, or making sure the person you care for is safe.

No. There is a difference between being a ‘carer’ and being employed by an organisation in a job role such as ‘Care Worker,’ ‘Support Worker,’ or ‘Healthcare Assistant,’ etc. The term ‘carer’ should always refer to a person caring for someone on an unpaid basis or claiming benefits like Carer’s Allowance.

Therefore, many carers are juggling their caring role alongside their careers.

A parent carer is a parent who is caring for a child under 18 who has additional needs. For example, the child may be on the autistic spectrum, have a physical disability, learning difficulties or mental health issues. You do not have to be living with the child to be classed as a parent carer.

Any adult who is caring for another person in Lancashire can access the service, whether you are caring for someone over the age of 18 or for a child. It is a free, independent advocacy support service. If we can’t help directly, we will try and find a service that can.

We can provide you with advocacy to support you with issues around your rights as a carer. For example:

• Letting you know what your rights are.
• Helping prepare and support you in meetings.
• Providing information and sharing knowledge around health and social care processes.
• Signposting you to access other services of interest and or that would be helpful.
• Promoting independence and empowerment to self-advocate.
• Guiding you to explore options and outcomes to help inform decisions.

Our Carers Advocates help carers to be more involved and have their voices heard in decisions that affect them.

Carers advocacy is not a statutory service. This means that in different areas, there will be different criteria for support from an Advocate.

How carers Advocates can help

• Helping carers to understand their rights and how to exercise them.
• Supporting carers to access a Carers Assessment.
• Supporting carers to communicate their own needs to people making decisions.
• Attending meetings with carers.
• Making a social care complaint.
• Helping carers to find other services that might be able to help them.

Who can make a referral?

• The person who needs support.
• A friend, family member or carer (with the person’s permission).
• The local authority (with the person’s permission).
• The NHS (with the person’s permission).
• Other organisations or charities (with the person’s permission).

Care Act advocacy is a statutory service. This means that under the Care Act, local authorities must involve people in decisions about their care and support needs. They must also make referrals to the service if someone needs an Advocate.

Care Act Advocates can help support people who are finding it difficult to go through a social care process (e.g. assessment, review, safeguarding, carers assessment). People who don’t have anyone who can help them to be, or stay, involved.

How a Care Act Advocate can help

• Talking to people about the social care process, how it works and what they want from it.
• Assisting people to understand their rights and how to exercise them.
• Supporting people to be involved in what is happening.
• Helping individuals to voice their views, wishes and feelings about their care and support needs.
• Assisting people to access their care and support records, or access them on their behalf.
• If people can’t tell their Advocate what they want, it’s not a problem. Our Advocates will find different ways of working to help establish people’s views and wishes as far as possible so that their rights can be upheld. We call this ‘non-instructed’ advocacy.

Who can make a referral for a Care Act Advocate?

• A social worker or someone from the Local Authority (with the person’s consent wherever possible).

A carer’s assessment is completed by the local council to help you look at what support you need in your role as a carer. The assessment is a chance for you to discuss how your caring responsibilities affect you.

It will look at:

• Whether you’re willing and able to carry on providing care.
• Whether your caring responsibilities have any impact on your wellbeing.
• Whether you need any support and what that support is.
• What you’d like to achieve in your day-to-day life, e.g., you might want more time to take part in activities you enjoy.