Carers feel alone

Carers feel alone & bullied

 

In recent weeks, I’ve attended a couple of assessment meetings to advocate on behalf of a client, one of which was a PIP assessment and at the end the client is so happy that they want to hug me, not shake my hand!  I’ve always attended NHS Continuing Care assessments and Social Services assessments and always with good results.

 

With 2 clients expressly saying to me that shaking my hand is not enough, it struck me that there must be so many people out there feeling alone and out of their depth.

 

Sometimes when I’ve turned up at meetings, I can be greeted with something along the lines of “you don’t need a solicitor” or “the meeting will have the same outcome either way, this wasn’t necessary”, but the reality is that it is necessary and the outcome is not the same.  For starters, the person that I am advocating for doesn’t feel alone and nervous, they are more relaxed, as they have someone there on their side!

 

These meetings can discuss very personal issues, things that they don’t like to talk about with friends and family.  They don’t want to burden them with their issues or the keeping of their privacy, but they still want someone compassionate and understanding, who is not going to judge them.

 

Carers are amazing, they do a brilliant job of looking after people and if they all stopped, it would cost the UK billions (£11b for dementia alone in the UK).  They are often stressed because they are caring for a loved one, doing that is enough of a burden, they don’t need to feel isolated as well.

 

So if you are attending a meeting or know someone who is and want someone there on your side, give me a ring.  Love to help.