Not content with removing the access to carers respite breaks, Surrey County Council (SCC) have now made the ultimate decision to terminate two further critical support services with immediate effect. Both the Emergency Care Provision and the End of Life support service have now been withdrawn.
Provider, Crossroads Care Surrey, received notification a few days ago, without any prior warning or consultation, that SCC will no longer support unpaid carers at home with respite breaks whilst they are caring for loved ones at the end of their life.
SCC are also terminating the immensely valued Carer Emergency Planning service at the end March giving only 3 weeks’ notice. This will leave almost 1,500 carers who have existing emergency plans without the safety net they were relying on should a crisis arise.
Both these services are essential for unpaid carers and will not only place a massive further burden on the physical demands required but will place considerable additional mental pressure as they worry about what will happen when they need support in an emergency, or when they are caring for terminally ill loved ones at home.
This decision will likely mean that for many carers they will be unable to grant loved ones wishes of being able to remain at home when they are terminally ill.
Crossroads Care Surrey warns the decision will obviously have serious and far-reaching consequences for carers, vulnerable residents and already overstretched public services. This will certainly result in vulnerable people being admitted to hospital unnecessarily or placed into crisis social care situations.
The charity will be launching their own Emergency support service in a bid to try to support carers as they now find themselves without any physical respite support, even at the most sensitive and critical times.
“Carers are Being Pushed Beyond Breaking Point”
Unpaid carers already provide an estimated £162 billion worth of care across the UK every year, a contribution that is the equivalent to the NHS budget.
Many carers sacrifice their careers, finances, health and social lives in order to care for relatives and loved ones.
Terry Hawkins, CEO of Crossroads Care Surrey, said:
“Over the past year we have already seen vital support reduced following the removal of respite services. Now, further contracts are being ended early, leaving carers with fewer and fewer places to turn.
Unpaid carers are the invisible backbone of our health and care system. Without them, the NHS and social care services would simply not cope.
These services provide the basic safeguards that allow carers to keep going, knowing that if something happens to them, or when families face the end of life, support is there. Removing them risks pushing already exhausted carers beyond breaking point.
Most worrying of all, when carers are pushed to exhaustion without support, the risks to both their own health and the people they care for increase dramatically. Lives could genuinely be put at risk.”
The cancellation of these contracts have been made without being presented to Cabinet for public scrutiny, despite the significant impact on carers and the wider health and care system.
No consultation has taken place with the carers who rely on these services, raising serious questions about how decisions that affect thousands of vulnerable residents can be made without engagement or transparency.
Crossroads Care Surrey is calling on Surrey County Council to publicly explain how the removal of these services aligns with its responsibilities to support carers and protect their wellbeing under the Care Act.
