Carers Rights Day is an annual event which this year takes place on Thursday 21 November.
This year’s theme is ‘recognising your rights’. The theme has been chosen to help carers recognise and understand their rights. It’s just as important that carers know how to access their rights, and to challenge when they feel their rights are not being met.
10 years ago, the Care Act and Children and Families Act was passed in England. In theory, the acts gave carers of all ages legal rights. These include:
- A right to assessment of carers’ needs
- Rights to involvement in hospital discharge
- Rights to support young carers transitioning from children’s to adult services
- And more recently, the right to up to one week’s carers leave a year.
We know, however, that in far too many cases, carers’ rights are still not being met.
This is why it’s so important that, if you’re a carer, you know what you’re entitled to by law.
Once you know that you are entitled by law, for example – to be involved in decisions relating to the hospital discharge of the person you care for, or to a week’s carer’s leave from work – then you have the power to challenge when your rights aren’t being met.
Find out more about your rights as a carer and what we are doing to mark Carer’s Rights Day
Video: Carers rights – True or False?
Do you think you know your rights as a carer? Watch our Carers’ Rights Day True or False quiz videos with Camden Carers Centre here and below to find out if you do!
Young carers – know your rights!
Are you a young carer? Are you confused about what you’re entitled to as a young carer?
We’ve created a series of helpful webpages in English and Welsh to help you understand your rights and how to access them.
Pushed from pillar to post – the reality of carers’ rights
For policy-makers, we’ve produced a briefing on carers’ rights, drawing on the experiences of unpaid carers, local carer services and health and social care practitioners.
The aim of the briefing is to show policy-makers examples of where carers’ rights are working well in practice, where they aren’t – and what could be done to improve the situation.
Help us spread the word about carers’ rights!
We’ve also produced social media assets focused on carers in England that you can share on your own channels to help build awareness about carers’ rights. The social media assets are available for download in the link below.
Toolkit for local carer organisations in Scotland
Carers Trust Scotland has pulled together a joint National Carer Organisations in Scotland Toolkit with further resources to help promote Carers Rights Day.
Carers Trust activities happening across the UK
Carers Trust Wales is holding an event in the Senedd on Weds 20 November entitled 'Supporting unpaid carers in financial hardship: Hearing from carers and Carers Support Fund Services'. Jane Dodds MS (Liberal Democrat) is sponsoring the event, and the Minister for Children and Social Care, Dawn Bowden MS, will be attending and speaking.
On the morning of Carers Rights Day Carers Trust is holding a roundtable in Westminster, co-hosted by Chris Vince MP and Anna Dixon MP, bringing carers, carer services and MPs together to discuss the realities of carers assessments and transitions from children’s to adult services.
Department for Work and Pensions Minister, Stephen Timms MP, is making a visit to Carers Support Centre in Bristol on Carers Rights Day, following our meeting with him last month.
Carers Support West Sussex have produced a great video about carers’ rights.