Caring for someone

A carer is anyone who provides unpaid care and support for a friend or family member who cannot cope without it. This may be due to an illness, disability, mental health problem or an addiction.

Caring can have many positive and rewarding aspects, however there are lots of reasons why caring can also leave the carer needing support. 

Caring for someone can have an impact on many aspects of your life and the council is committed to working with and supporting carers in North Tyneside. We provide a tool for carers to look at and identify their own needs through My Care and help them to access services, events, support and training specifically aimed at carers.

My Care has a dedicated information and advice section for carers and as a local authority we can also offer carers assessments 

Living Well North Tyneside

Carers can find out about wider health and wellbeing information, events, groups and services throughout North Tyneside using Living Well North Tyneside

Carers Charter

The North Tyneside Carers’ Charter was developed by carers and sets out the key principles when working with carers, these include:

• Recognising carers
• Valuing carers
• Providing information and advice to carers
• Involving carers

Service providers are expected to agree to the principles of the Carers’ Charter, promote the inclusion of carers in planning and decision making and support individual carers to participate in the process as required. You can read the charter here

During 2014 and early 2015 a significant amount of consultation was carried out with carers to agree the priorities that would be taken forward from the previous Carers’ Strategy. 

North Tyneside’s Commitment to Carers builds on the successes of the previous Adult Carers’ Strategy 2012-2014 and is based upon 6 priorities:

1. Earlier identification of carers and the provision of quality information
2. Improved communication
3. Improved carer health, wellbeing and support
4. Support that enables carers to go to/continue to work or in education
5. Carers have access to emotional support
6. Smooth transition of support from children’s to adult services

The document sets out how we intend to respond to the needs of all carers who regularly care for ill or disabled family members and friends. It also takes into account the views of carers of disabled children to ensure there is a single strategic document outlining our priorities for supporting all unpaid carers in North Tyneside.

Carers feature as one of nine objectives covered by the Health and Wellbeing Board in the 2018 to 2020 work plan. The Carers objective is to achieve:-

'An integrated approach to identifying and meeting carer health and wellbeing needs (for carers of all ages)'

A Carers Partnership Board was established in 2018 and oversees the update of the North Tyneside Commitment to Carers.
 

Please see our new information page for residents on Coronavirus (COVID-19) for adult social care support here