Vaccinations
The government have clarified that unpaid carers are included in the first round of vaccinations. If you’re a carer, please let your GP know you are a carer, that so you can be registered and become eligible for the first round of vaccines.
This advice recommends that carers who are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, or are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare would be at risk if the carer contracted covid, should be included in Priority 6.
Tests
There are 2 rapid, same day results covid-19 testing sites in Hackney. They’re for people who don’t have any covid-19 symptoms and are volunteers, unpaid carers or critical workers. We recommend you take these tests regularly, possibly weekly, to make sure you’re not covid-19 positive:
- 18 Edward’s Lane, Stoke Newington, N16 0JJ
- Shellgrove Community Hall 29-8 Shellgrove Rd, Stoke Newington, N16 8UU
Book:
We are only too aware that the pressures upon you as a carer are likely to be greater than ever right now for a whole host of reasons including if:
- you are self-isolating and hence can’t get out to the person you care for
- you are self-isolating with the person they care for and hence unable to get any time away from the person you care for
- you care for a child and a parent living in different properties
- you have concerns regarding care workers coming into the home causing you increased anxiety
- you have cancelled care workers due to concerns and hence taking on all the caring yourself
- care workers have cancelled due to illness and replacements not found
- day centre provisions have been cancelled meaning you have to take on the care
- you are struggling with your own emotional wellbeing whilst trying to remain strong for the person you are caring for
- you might have found yourself thrown into a caring role for the first time due to coronavirus
- you might have been managing previously without any support from social services or voluntary sector organisations and are therefore unfamiliar with the system, may struggle to ask for help and are possibly feeling extremely overwhelmed
- you may be concerned about financial difficulties and other practical issues
Carers FIRST are your first port of call
Carers FIRST are the service commissioned by Hackney Adult Services to provide preventative and outreach support to informal carers 18+ who are supporting an 18+-year-old family member, friend or neighbour (see below for contact details of support for parent carers and young carers)
Carers FIRST have a central telephone hub which is your entry into the service. Carers FIRST also have a local Hackney team to whom you would be passed on to from the central hub if and when required.
Hackney Carers FIRST team are providing phone, email and virtual support (no face to face at present) and can also link people in with other support services. Many Voluntary Sector Organisations and community groups and activities often utilised by carers (including counselling and support groups) are moving online. Some are up and running others being developed.
A guide of community services and activities for Carers will be out shortly, and in the meantime Carers First will be able to help you navigate to services.
Whether you are already registered with Carers FIRST, are new to the service and/or are a new carer then you can contact Carers FIRST Central Hub who will either be able to advise you themselves or link you into the Hackney Carers First Team.
East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) is where Hackney’s mental health services sit. ELFT has a small internal carers service with workers who can undertake Carers Assessments and provide a range of advice and support to Mental Health carers.
You can contact their crisis line on 020 8432 8020
If you are already known to ELFT you will have received contact advising how to get in touch with ELFT Carers’ team directly, or you can expect to be contacted by ELFT in the coming days.
Hackney Carers FIRST’s Team also provides support in the community to mental health carers. So to access all support you can contact the Carers FIRST hub.
See our mental health page for a range of support and services – with a focus on the current situation.
Then Hackney’s Young Carer’s Service is for you.
The service is for young carers from 6 to 19years old (and 25 years if the young carer has a special educational need or disability.
FAQs – adult carers (aged over 18) caring for another adult
Hackney’s direct payments team will be able to provide support and guidance about arranging alternative care. Alternative care might include utilising a homecare agency or seeking an alternative personal assistant or care worker.
The direct payments team isn’t permitted to recommend or appoint alternative care workers however they do keep an informal register of care workers who have told them they are looking for additional working hours, along with details of a few agencies who accept the £13.19ph funding rate.
You can get this list by contacting the direct payments team:
It is then incumbent upon you to contact the personal assistants to arrange interviews if necessary (with advice from DP team). The direct payments team will then assist with the paperwork.
Further information for those who have a direct payment can be found in our frequently asked questions document.
It may be that this was for services that are not options at present during the pandemic lockdown eg for a short holiday or trips to the hairdresser.
Please contact adult services who can help you consider other ways you may want to use your one-off direct payment at present to help ease things (see below for ideas).
Confirmation can be given in writing that the time period to spend the one-off direct payment can be extended.
Statutory carers assessments continue to have a place in the current circumstances, in order to help you to explore all of the above issues and help to identify any other needs that you may have.
Carers assessments are a tool to aid a conversation and identify needs.
Carers assessments will need to be carried out over the phone and not face to face.
We are aware that it might be more difficult for you to find somewhere in your home to talk privately if you live with the cared for person, so when arranging the appointment with a social worker:
- organise with them a time when you might be able to go into another room to speak
- agree with the worker to carry out the CA over a few shorter conversations rather than one long one
- if all attempts to have a private conversation fail and you have email access then you could have an email dialogue with the worker instead
The main areas that may be covered are listed below – proportionately according to you as an individual:
- what caring tasks you do and how you feel about doing them
- your strengths and the challenges in caring – with very specific challenges at present
- your relationship with the person you care for
- if you get enough time for yourself – during lockdown how are you / are you managing to adapt this? (see ideas below)
- how caring is impacting your mental and physical health
- how caring is affecting your relationships with others
- how caring is affecting your education and work-life – are you currently having to work / study from home whilst caring?
- how you are managing financially eg were you self employed and now have no income?
- whether the person you’re caring for is getting enough help
- how willing or able you are to carry on caring
- what might help make things easier for you
- you could consider arranging with another relative to have a telephone/skype conversation with the person you care for a couple of times a day whilst you spend time doing eg your online course, linking with friends on Facebook, having a nap
- consider whether the person you care for can be left alone or do they have care workers coming in at some point each day? If so ensure that you take your daily exercise out of the house at this time
- do you have access to mindfulness exercises / fitness videos / online yoga?
If and when emotions start to run high, what might you do?
- call / email a friend
- call Carers First to talk to someone
- go into another room, make a cup of tea and play favourite music
- go into another room and get feelings and thoughts on paper
- contact a helpline
Visit Carers UK for more detailed ideas, guidance and advice.
A change has been made to the guidance now allowing people with autism and / or LD to leave the house for exercise more than once a day together with the carer or care worker.
If you don’t live with the person you care for then you would also be permitted to travel beyond your local area. You would still need to be following the guidance as far as possible re social distancing, hand washing etc.
It is unlikely that you will be stopped or questioned however if so then generally a brief explanation of you being a carer should be enough.
However to avoid causing you any additional worry and concern we have composed a letter signed by the Director of Adult Services confirming that you have caring responsibilities.
Carers First will be sending the letter to all carers on their Hackney CF register. If you are not registered with Carers First and need a letter then please call Carers First Central Hub who can get one to you or if the person you care for has a social worker then you can ask them
Again the guidance around this has been amended now allowing a carer / family member to accompany and visit the person if you/they fall into one of the following categories:
- patient is at end of life
- you are their birthing partner
- you are the parent of a child
- patient has mental health issues including dementia, learning difficulties or autism
Every carer should have a what if / contingency plan. Anyone can help you to create this.
In these uncertain times we urge everyone to have a plan in place should for some reason you be unable to continue in your caring role temporarily or permanently eg you start showing symptoms and hence need to self-isolate
Some things to think about (non-exhaustive list):
- could you support cared for person virtually and do you both have the equipment set up and know how to use it in advance?
- could a relative or friend step in?
- if so do you have up to date contact details?
- who other than you holds this information/where is it recorded?
- could someone come and stay with the person you care for?
- does the person you care for need to go and stay with someone else?
- does someone have a spare set of keys to gain access?
- does someone have information on the cared-for person’s routine / likes and dislikes/medication regime etc?
- do you have details of the cared for person’s local Mutual Aid Covid-19 group who may well be able to assist with food deliveries, collecting prescriptions etc?
- does the person you care for have neighbours who can keep an eye/local shop keeper who can do food drops?
- do you have contact details of Social Services to hand should you need to contact them to request an increase in/a new Care Package?
We would strongly advise you give permission for them to record your plan on their records so they can better support you and the person you care for, should the need arise.
This can be done simply by calling 020 8356 6262.
It is important that if the person you care for has symptoms of coronavirus (Covid-19) that you have a clear understanding of when PPE is and isn’t needed, as it varies depending upon the individual circumstances of the cared for person.
To be sure that you are requesting the correct PPE / or whether you need PPE, then you could discuss with the GP in the first instance, but adult social care staff can also help to guide you through this
If you provide personal care for a friend or family member you are now eligible for free PPE (personal protective equipment).
If you are caring for somebody (particularly if they are not in your household), you might want to consider using PPE to protect yourself and the person you are caring for.
A carer is someone, including adults and children, who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and can’t cope without their support.
To order your PPE please visit CarePlace and complete the application form.
This will be sent to the Council and we’ll contact you directly to fulfil your order.
Guides for families and carers
Join other carers for a virtual cuppa
Virtual cuppa is a bunch of carers coming together for supportive chats to share practical tips and tricks, and sometimes just to vent.
Looking after somebody who might be vulnerable to coronavirus is really tough. There’s no right answer, but we can figure things out together.
Hear about one Hackney carer’s experience of joining the daily cuppas.
Page updated on: 16 June 2021