In partnership with St Mary’s Hospital and The IW Council, Carers IW successfully has launched a Carers Passport. The Carers Passport enables unpaid carers to be identified to the hospital staff as part of the care team.
It also enables carers to visit out of normal visiting hours to help at mealtimes and to be actively involved in all meetings about the patient, reducing their loved one’s feelings of anxiety, helping with retaining independent living skills, not forgetting being actively involved about the discharge process.
Unpaid carers now seen as part of the solution
Katherine Harvey from the Carers Lounge stated that prior to the Carers Lounge, unpaid carers were often not heard. Since the introduction of the Carers Passport, unpaid carers are seen as part of the solution in ensuring that they are fully involved in the care and whilst they are a patient and need to be involved fully if a discharge home is to be successful.
Ann, whose husband was in hospital, shares her experience.
“As a Carer sometimes your loved one’s trip to or admission into hospital is unexpected and unplanned and can prove incredibly stressful. Having had four such occasions in the last 18 months, I appreciated the girls in the Carers IW Lounge who were on hand with support, advice and generally making our stay in hospital a less daunting experience. They visited us on the ward to ensure we had everything we needed and that as a Carer I was also OK.
“By the time of our last stay of 10 days last October I had acquired a Carers Passport. As a registered unpaid Carer for my husband who has Dementia, staff recognised that my support would be really useful, me being on the ward during the daytime reduced his levels of stress with unfamiliar surroundings and enabled me to clearly convey my husband’s needs.”
She went on to say,
“The Carers Passport idea came from Carers, highlighting difficulties that were a particular problem whilst caring for their loved ones in a medical setting. The staff in the Carers Lounge provide a much-needed backup of support and advice and help if problems arise.
“I am sure other Carers will wholeheartedly agree with me, our path of being a 24/7 Carer has been improved by Carers IW and their outreach departments in the two hospitals.”
News shared by Elizabeth on behalf of Carers IW. Ed
