Carers charter

Carers who have a relative or friend needing hospital treatment will be helped with a new charter from the Pennine Acute Hospital Trust.

The trust, which runs the Rochdale Infirmary, and other hospitals in Bury, North Manchester and Oldham, has set out how patients and staff who provide unpaid care for a relative or friend will be helped.

The charter is being launched as part of National Carers’ Week, which runs from June 14 to 20.

The trust’s 10,000 staff, who may care for children or adults, get a new staff carer network and staff carers’ charter.

Patient carers will also be made aware of rights to a carers’ needs assessment; receive information about illness and treatments; be given details of local support groups, carers’ centres, counselling and carer services and get help with issues such as housing and benefits.

They will also get details of what to do and who to contact in a crisis, and be involved in planning the discharge from hospital and get information about care and medication.

Moira Smith, the trust’s access, booking and choice manager, a carer herself, said: “I didn’t wake up one morning and find myself a carer. My caring responsibility has increased slowly over my life, caring from a young age for a disabled mum and eventually my father and husband. The realisation you need all the help you can get comes quickly.

“As an NHS trust we recognise that many of our patients and a number of our staff have caring responsibilities. It is important that carers are recognised and supported.”

The Trust’s Patient Carers’ Charter can be found at www.pat.nhs.uk