Caring for Carers: Home carers remain an under-valued and invisible resource despite moves to increase the means-tested Carer's Allowance, according to Mary McMahon, chief executive of the Caring for Carers organisation.
This year's Budget increased the allowance by €30.20 to €200 a week for carers over 66 and by €26.40 to €180 for under 66s.
At the recent Caring for Carers annual conference, partnership between home carers and healthcare professionals was the theme. Carers want to build links with GPs, public health nurses, community welfare officers, therapists and doctors at every level of the health service. "We want to see the family carer recognised as a true partner in providing care by healthcare professionals," said Ms McMahon. The Safe Discharge of Patients programme being used in four community hospitals in Clare involves carers by giving them access to medical information on patients' needs.
"I was a carer for over 20 years," said Ms McMahon. "Carers had no right to any information because the patients had the right to the information. But they now have the opportunity to share it in a concrete way in written form with family carers."
The Caring for Carers charter includes the right to emotional support, counselling and respite care. Respite includes such mundane luxuries as a good night's sleep or a few hours away from their charges.
The means-testing of the allowance is a contentious issue, but Ms McMahon said the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Seamus Brennan, himself raised the issue at a recent meeting they had with him.
Means testing turns many carers off applying for the allowance. "People are afraid to open up their financial lives to scrutiny or many of them do not want to upset what they perceive as the apple cart of their husband's tax allowances and many carers will not even know what their family financial situation is," Ms McMahon said.
There is still no accurate estimate of the number of carers. Ms McMahon said the Central Statistics Office (CSO) figure of 150,000 in 2002 was "the first benchmarking we got" but was likely to be much higher next month when the next general census is taken.