Find out more about new legislation to help unpaid carers
In Scotland, there is an estimated 17% of the adult population and 4% of the population of young people who provide unpaid care to relatives and friends. The value of this support to health and social services is extensive. It is widely recognised that carers are now the largest provider of care in the UK. The care they provide saves the Scottish economy an estimated £10.3bn each year. Without the right support, the role of an unpaid carer can be detrimental to their own physical and emotional wellbeing.
This new legislation will introduce provisions to improve the health and wellbeing of carers. These include:
- Identification of carers’ needs for support through adult carer support plans and young carer statements (which will replace carer’s assessments)
- Provision of support to carers based on local eligibility criteria
- The ennablement of carer involvement in certain services – e.g. hospital discharge
- Preparation of Local Carer Strategies
- The preparation of Short Breaks Services Statements
- Establishment of information and advice services for carers
You can find more information on the full detail of the Act below and we will continue to update you in any developments as these are available: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/9/contents/enacted
Local Carer Strategy
Work has commenced locally in Aberdeenshire to gather the views of adult carers via a carer satisfaction survey. The results of the survey will be our starting point to help us develop a Local Carers Strategy for Aberdeenshire.
The Strategy will detail our plan to support both adult and young carers throughout the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 as well as highlighting the priority issues that our local carers have identified as requiring action.