Putting people first without putting carers second

HRH The Princess Royal hosted a roundtable event organised by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Caring for Carers called "Putting People First - Without Putting Carers Second".

The discussion on 8 May 2008, chaired by Andrew Cozens, Trustee and Strategic Adviser for Children, Adults and Health Services at the Improvement and Development Agency, was held in light of the forthcoming launch of the New Deal for Carers - a new ten year National Carers Strategy.

The welfare and support of the UK’s unpaid family carers will depend on its success. However with public finances tighter than ever, the New Deal will stand or fall on its translation into local commissioning and services.

Carers Minister Ivan Lewis spoke alongside Anne Smyth, Chief Executive Carers Resource for Harrogate and Fern Routledge from the Crossroads Caring for Carers network to an audience of senior government, third sector, stakeholder representatives and journalists.

This was followed by the opportunity to hear from local carers’ services who have developed some of the most innovative approaches to supporting carers in Primary Care, hospital settings and in balancing caring with paid employment, which put carers (and the people they care for) in control and offer personalised support. The discussion also raised some of the risks that carers have identified with initiatives such as Direct Payments.