National Carers Strategy

Lord Laming Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I certainly agree with the emphasis that my noble friend is putting on the need for cross-government working. I know she has been a champion of that for many years in the other place and that she will continue in your Lordships’ House to ensure that unpaid carers are properly supported and recognised. I can tell my noble friend that Minister Kinnock, as the lead Minister for unpaid carers, regularly engages with those with lived experience, the organisations that represent them and—importantly to the point my noble friend is making—with Ministers from other government departments, most recently the Department for Work and Pensions. We will be formalising our cross-government working with relevant departments and NHS England.

[Lord Laming (CB)]

My Lords, if the Government are going to achieve their ambition to delay admissions to hospital and get people out of hospital more quickly, does the Minister agree that we have got to have proper support for carers? In particular, we should enable them to feel valued for what they are doing on behalf of their family and society as a whole.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I agree with the comments and observations of the noble Lord. I would like to put on record, as I know many Members of your Lordships’ House would want to do, my thanks for and acknowledgement of the role that unpaid, as well as paid, carers play. They are the difference between quality care and less than optimal care. Their support is greatly valued, so I thank the noble Lord for making that point.

NHS Continuing Healthcare

Lord Laming Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his welcome, and I welcome him; I hope we have set the standard on this first Question on the first day. What matters is that people are getting the right care in the right place, and that it is provided near to where they want it. We think that continuing healthcare is one means of doing that; of course, care homes are another. It is about getting in place what is right. I will be very pleased to speak to the noble Lord outside the Chamber on this matter.

[Lord Laming (CB)]

My Lords, I too welcome the noble Baroness to her post. Does she agree that our society would benefit greatly if we gave more recognition to the load that carers carry in these situations? According to the evidence they gave to our committee, unpaid carers sometimes feel that they are regarded by the health service simply as the chauffeur getting the person to hospital, whereas they are actually providing a huge amount of care. Can the noble Baroness assure the House that recognition will be given to unpaid carers?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am pleased to take this opportunity to give great recognition to the role that unpaid carers play; they are absolutely crucial to ensuring that people get the care they need, either directly or perhaps by being advocates. I also thank the noble Lord for his kind comments. While unpaid carers are very busy looking after those they care for, they need to be able to look after themselves and their own health needs. We will apply ourselves to this issue.