Carers Rights Day - a national campaign which aims to raise awareness of the rights of unpaid carers – is being backed by the UHMBT Carers Staff Network.
The national day of awareness being held today, Thursday 23 November, also highlights the many challenges that carers face in their home lives and at work.
Today, the UHMBT Carers Staff Network is joining the national conversation and reaching out to carers, allies and everyone across the Trust to highlight the incredibly important role that carers play at work and in society.
Ingrid Kent, Chair of the UHMBT Carers Staff Network, said: “Our staff network is enormously privileged to be able to support colleagues who are carers through some incredibly challenging times.
“We are always there to offer a listening ear and can offer advice and ideas on where to go for the best possible support. We do our utmost to support each other and ensure that people’s rights are protected.
“Carers' rights are rights that we have as unpaid carers when looking after a family member or friend who is vulnerable, either with a disability, frailty, a mental health condition or long-term illness.
“Colleagues who are unpaid carers in their home lives and allies are very welcome to join our network. As a carer myself, I know just how hard things can get and how crucial it is to have your rights acknowledged and respected.”
The UHMBT Carers Staff Network is delighted that Tabetha Darmon, Chief Nursing Officer for UHMBT, has recently joined the network as Executive Sponsor.
This is fantastic news as Tabetha’ skills, knowledge, experience, compassion and support will bring a new and dynamic perspective to the Carers Staff Network.
Tabetha said: “I am happy to have joined the Trust’s Carers Staff Network and to offer my support to colleagues with caring responsibilities.
“Our network aims to support carers, to value their work and promote a culture of kindness and empathy. We want to ensure that our network not only facilitates carers to stay in work, but also makes sure that colleagues have as good a work-life balance as possible and a rewarding job.
“I will advocate for carers and want to help promote the support offered by the network and our People and Organisational Development Team such as the UHMBT Carer’s Passport, which is an incredibly useful support tool for colleagues to use when discussing their caring responsibilities with their line manager.
“I hope more colleagues will join our network, either as carers or as allies, in the coming months, and I look forward to working with everyone.”
Ingrid said: “We are delighted that Tabetha has joined our staff network and are excited to be working with her on raising awareness of the challenges faced by working carers, and supporting everyone to have a positive experience at work.”
Colleagues who are juggling work with looking after someone are not alone – there are five million working carers in the UK.
A carer is anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support. The care they give is unpaid. Many carers don’t see themselves as carers and it takes them an average of two years to acknowledge their role as a carer. More information about understanding carers is on this link on the NHS website.
Carers have several protected rights within the workplace in the UK and some of the main rights are listed below:
- The right to be identified as a carer
- The right not to be discriminated against
- The right to request flexible working
- The right to time off to care for dependants
- The right to a Carer’s Assessment
- The right to one week of unpaid carer's leave (this is coming in nationally in 2024).
Unpaid working carers fulfil a hugely important role in society and as NHS colleagues, bring skills and understanding which are incredibly important to the Trust.
If you are a member of staff and are interested in joining the UHMBT Carers Staff Network as a member or in an organisational capacity, please go to the UHMBT Carers Network intranet page.
Some useful sources of help and support for colleagues and the public are listed below: