New emergency respite service for carers launched in Wolverhampton

An emergency home-based respite service for carers is being launched by Wolverhampton City Council’s Carer Support Team.

The service, provided by Agincare UK, has been developed by the city council and local carers and will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including bank holidays, for up to 48 hours at a time.

Agincare UK will offer immediate support for the person being cared for if their carer is taken ill or cannot carry out their caring role because of an accident or emergency. A support worker will remain with the person in their own home either until a relative is able to take over the caring role or alternative support is arranged by social services.

The new service builds on the success of the free Carer Emergency Card scheme, which was set up to ease carers’ fears about what would happen to the person they look after if they suddenly couldn’t care for them. Carers carry a card with a unique number on it which members of the emergency services pass on to the city council’s emergency control centre.

Councillor Les Pugh, Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, said: “The Carer Emergency Card scheme offers carers peace of mind and this new Emergency Home-based Respite Service will mean that they will feel even more confident that, should they be involved in an accident or emergency, the person they care for will be looked after.”

The Carer Support Team offers a range of services including assessments, benefits advice and personal budgets to allow people to pay for support to help them in their caring role as well as providing emotional support.

Only a proportion of the 25,700 unpaid carers that live in the city are known to the Carer Support Team and, as a result, many don’t receive support to help them carry out their caring responsibilities.

Brenda Stafford, Wolverhampton City Council’s Carer Manager, said: “If, on a regular basis and without payment, someone looks after a relative, friend or neighbour who cannot care for themselves, then they are a carer.

“We are here to help them carry out this vital role and so if they are not already in touch with us we would love to hear from them. And of course it’s good to know that, in a crisis, we are only a phone call away.”

To find out more about the help and support the Carer Support Team can offer, or to register for the Emergency Home-based Respite Service  or a Carer Emergency Card, please call 01902 553409, call into the Carer Centre at Blossoms Fold or log on to www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/carers.

Carers who wish to register for the Emergency Home-based Respite Service will need to give permission for their details to be passed on to Agincare UK.