Lack of support for dementia carers highlighted

An article in Wales Online [link to http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health-news/2009/07/10/trapped-by-caring-for-a-relative-with-dementia-91466-24117584/] has highlighted the lack of support that is available for people in Wales that care for a relative suffering from dementia. Through the example of Keith Dewhurst who cares for his mother Odette, the article describes the problems faced by family members whose lives are completely changed when they become carers. As well as providing 24 hour care for his mother and rarely being able to leave his home, Keith has also had to give up his job and all his hobbies to look after Odette. On top of providing care himself, Keith pays £300 per week to a domiciliary care company to provide vital help such as getting Odette in and out of bed. He feels isolated and unsupported by social services, blaming politicians for their attitude of praising unpaid carers for their work whilst doing little to ease their burden. He comments: ‘Until dementia…is seen in the same light as a serious illness then carers will have to cope, often by themselves, with little or no help on the ground…It’s difficult to say how much longer I can care for her at home, but at the moment I feel trapped.’ Keith also draws attention to the ‘postcode lottery’ of care costs in Wales, with care home fees starting from around £350 in some areas and going up to £1,500 per week in other regions.

It is hoped that the support system for unpaid carers in Wales will improve when measures from the forthcoming Welsh Green Paper on social care (which will be based largely on the English Green Paper published on 14 July 2009) are introduced.