Local carers at risk of losing out across England

Carers’ organisations across England are disappointed that their local Primary Care Trusts (PCT) have not committed to using all of their allocated budget to support unpaid carers.

Two of the country’s leading carers’ charities, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care, have launched the Give Carers a Break campaign to ensure every pound of the £400million allocated by the Government for carers’ breaks is spent on carers.

Research from the two charities has shown that the vast majority of PCTs are failing to show how they will be spending the cash on carer services – in complete contradiction of government guidelines.

Nine out of ten PCTs responding to the survey from the two charities still haven’t committed to using the funding to support carers. And while over half of respondents said they will revise their plans to support carers, England’s five million unpaid carers fear they will miss out again if PCTs aren’t held to account.

The campaign to push PCTs to give carers the support they desperately need is being backed by new Dragon’s Den star Hilary Devey.

Millionaire business-woman Hilary, a long-term supporter of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, said: “As a former carer and a business-woman it makes perfect sense to me that carers should be supported in this way. Breaks from caring responsibilities make all the difference to the carers’ mental and physical health and well-being. It’s a sound investment that saves money in the long run because without breaks many carers are not able to continue as their health deteriorates and they end up needing care or hospitalisation themselves.”

The overwhelming majority of PCTs (82%) claimed they had worked with carers’ organisations or carers to develop plans and budgets but local carers’ organisations dispute this claim, pointing out that nearly half (40%) of PCTs did NOT engage with them in any way at all.

Liz Fenton, Chief Executive, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers said, “As part of this campaign we’re calling on the Government to ensure every PCT spends their allocated budget supporting carers. Because the money is not ‘ring-fenced’, cash-strapped PCTs are not obliged to spend the money on carers and are in danger of diverting the funds elsewhere.”

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Care used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain this data from PCTs in England.