This year, Carers Rights Day is on Thursday 20 November and the theme is ‘Know your rights, use your rights.’
A carer is someone who provides support to people who are unable to care for themselves due to illness, disability, or other challenges. Carers can include unpaid family members or friends who assist with daily activities, as well as paid professionals who offer care services. One in ten people are known to be carers in Greater Manchester, yet there are many more who are unknown.
There are about 280,000 unpaid carers in Greater Manchester including children and young people caring for parents with long-term health conditions. There are also working carers, parent carers and others.
Many carers don’t identify as carers, or they may be unaware of their legal rights and what they’re entitled to in terms of support and benefits. The support available is designed to reduce some of the pressures that caring can bring.
Carers Rights Day is about raising awareness of the rights of unpaid carers and what help are entitled to. It is also about supporting carers to access help and give them recognition for the wonderful job they do. Being an unpaid carer can have an impact on a person’s wellbeing and even their ability to access health services. It can have a financial cost or affect their ability to work. It also impacts on social and family relationships.
Carers in Greater Manchester
Organisations in Greater Manchester, including the NHS and local authorities, have made a commitment to improving support for unpaid carers. This is part of the Greater Manchester ICP strategy. This includes:
- Carers being identified as a carer as early as possible
- Better access to annual health checks and improved access to GP appointments
- Access to services and activities to help stay fit and healthy
- To be supported in employment
- To be involved with employers in developing carers policies and for staff to be trained to be “carer aware”
- If you are a young carer or young adult carer, you are able to thrive and develop educationally
The strategy places carers (especially unpaid carers) as a priority alongside the paid workforce — recognising their role, improving their identification and support, helping them combine caring with employment, and ensuring their own health and wellbeing.
You can read more about this on our Carers Page, or read the full strategy for health and care across Greater Manchester here.
Know your rights, use your rights
As a carer, knowing your rights empowers you with information about what you’re entitled to. This helps you feel confident asking for what you need, as well as challenging things when your rights are not being met – whether that be in the workplace or education, in accessing health or social care, or when interacting with other professionals or at home. Find out more about carers rights on the Carers Rights UK website.
