A carer, who looks after his wife, said he was finally able to put the heating on after ‘life-changing’ hospital discharge support increased the couple’s finances by £15,000 a year. Care centre officers got in touch with the pensioner about support when his wife was being discharged from hospital.
Older people’s support worker, David Reid, talked about the support available at a recent council health board meeting. The service provided through the carers centre has proved vital, with delayed hospital discharges reaching unmanageable levels.
East Ayrshire Carers Centre supports unpaid carers in parts of Scotland, with similar schemes available in England. David explained the approach during a presentation to East Ayrshire Integration Joint Board, the Daily Record reports.
David said: “There have been quite a few cases where family members are maybe not in the right frame of mind to provide care and support for the family member that would allow them to be discharged from hospital. In some cases, this can just be something as simple as making dinners. One man’s wife was back in hospital and he came in to ask what we could do.
“We identified that he had quite ill health himself.” The team then went through a benefits maximisation process that resulted in the husband receiving attendance allowance, as well as a council tax discount and other supports like free glasses.
David added: “Now, after getting this in place along with pension credit, the couple are £15,000 a year better off. It has been a massive life-changing situation for them.
“The husband came in to see me personally the other week to shake my hand and say thanks as he was now able to put his heating on.”
David said that the team was able to step in and provide around £200 to support the carer, whether that involves taking a break or finding other ways to ease their stress. He added: “One lady who liked jigsaws but she had given it up because she just couldn’t find the time. She let slip that she didn’t really have a comfortable space to do her jigsaw.
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“She didn’t have a desk or anything. So we managed to get her a big jigsaw table. It is quite a valuable piece of work and isn’t just about getting people discharged quicker, it is about having the right supports in place when they do.”
For information on carers support in England go here.
