This leaflet is for people who provide care and supervision, unpaid, for another adult.  Often those people will be husbands and wives, daughters and sons and other family members who do not think of themselves as doing anything out of the way.  Caring can become a stressful role and Social Services can sometimes provide help, support, information and advice to carers.

Many carers like to manage alone without outside help, but worry about what to do if certain urgent situations arise.

Forward Planning

Carers are often so busy dealing with everyday events as they occur that forward planning can seem a bit of a luxury. However, thinking about what might happen could prevent a mishap turning into a disaster, and help reduce the stress on everyone concerned.

Getting Help in a Hurry

• Ambulance service - 999
• Adult Duty Team during office hours – 01225 396231
• Social Services Emergency Duty Team – 01454 615165

What can Social Services do in an emergency?

If you contact either the Adult Duty Team or Emergency Duty Team they can:

• Look at any existing information we have on file about you and the person you care for, if you have had an assessment before.
• Give advice about sources of help, and arrange help if necessary.
• Help you contact relatives and other sources of help.
• Arrange urgent care, for example emergency home care, residential care, if necessary.
• Do a home visit and ensure that someone is safe if required.
• Follow up and ensure longer term arrangements are in place – for example if a carer is admitted to hospital.

If you are admitted to hospital within office hours, the Hospital Social Work team will respond rather than Adult Duty Team.

Common emergency situations and how to avoid them

Locking yourself out

If you live alone with a person who needs a lot of support, consider (if you haven’t already done so) what would happen if you lost your front door key. If you have one or more friendly neighbours, consider asking them to hold a key. More than one is helpful in case someone is out. If you have no-one you wish to leave a key with, consider a Keysafe. These are strong metal boxes with a combination lock which can be bolted to the outside wall of the house. You can get more information from Community Alarm Service 01225 477892 who can help with installing the Keysafe if you have no-one with handyman skills available. There is more than one make on the market.

The person you care for has fallen down and cannot get up

If this happens and you are not sure you can help them up without hurting yourself, you can call the Ambulance Service on 999. They are used to this request and are generally happy to help, although you may have to wait if there are more urgent calls. Make the person comfortable and give lots of reassurance in the meantime. The ambulance personnel will check the person has not injured themselves, but if you have any doubts once they have left, call your GP.

Someone’s catheter has become blocked.

This is an emergency and you should seek help immediately. In office hours contact your GP surgery, tell the receptionist what has happened and ask to speak to a Community Nurse. After normal hours, you can ring St Martins Hospital on 01225 832383 and ask to speak to the On Call Community Nurse. This service applies only in Bath. If you live in North East Somerset, you may need to call your emergency GP service by calling your surgery and taking down the number the answering machine will give you.

Someone who is mentally confused has wandered out of the house

If you are able, have a look around the immediate neighbourhood, but do not delay alerting the police. Have the phone number of the local station to hand. When you speak to them, make sure you emphasise that this person is mentally confused and vulnerable.

If this happens repeatedly, consider asking for help from the Community Mental Health Team. You can ask your GP about this. There is much help and support available they can offer.  Do not wait until you are desperate before asking for help, as there is often a waiting list for an assessment.

What if I become ill?

Try to think in advance who you could ask to help if this happens. What would you need help with and who could you ask? Some relatives or friends could perhaps be asked to take on part of your caring role.

If there are things you do that you do not feel anyone else in the family could help with, such as intimate personal care, make sure you know how to contact Social Services for help. However it can be difficult sometimes for Social Services to respond instantly, and finding care staff at short notice can be tricky especially at certain times of the year, so forward planning is best.

Alternatively if you know your cared-for person would be self funding for home care, make sure you have an up to date List of Local Providers (also available from your local Social Services office).

No one else can do it ….

If the person you care for is used to having only you care for them, it may be a good idea to occasionally call on outside help so that they can get used to this, which will make having help in an emergency less of an upheaval for them. Consider discussing this with the person you care for.

The same thing applies to respite care. If the person you care for has been for a short stay to a local residential home and found it a happy experience, it will be easier for them to go there in an emergency. Some homes offer day care.

You may be able to help with the cost from Social Services – ask for an assessment (your cared-for person will need to consent to this)

Hospital Admissions and Discharges

If the person you care for needs admission to hospital, it can be a very stressful time and you may find you are offered a lot of help or very little. Bear in mind that you as a carer should be consulted about arrangements for discharge.  When the immediate need for acute medical care is over the hospital will be keen to discharge the patient, however it may still be difficult for you to cope with someone at home while they recover.

You need to be very clear in your own mind about what you can manage and speak up if you are worried at all. If there is any doubt at all about someone’s fitness for discharge a full multidisciplinary assessment should be offered.

This would include people like the hospital Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Social Worker, doctors and nurses getting to together to look at the person’s needs and ensuring a safe discharge.

If help at home is needed, the person should not be discharged until this care can be arranged to start. If you are concerned, you can ask for a Social Work referral if this has not already been done. There is a special Hospital Social Work team who can respond quickly and see you and the person you care for in the Hospital.

Suggestions

If you are finding things difficult, or worry about things going wrong ……

• Talk to other family members and trusted neighbours about what help they could give in an emergency.   It maybe that people will be willing to provide support on a short term basis until more long term arrangements can be made.
• Write down contact numbers of people who might be able to help and keep this list in a prominent place.
• Have your central heating maintained regularly during the summer months
• Consider having a Community Alarm at home – see Community Alarm service Leaflet.
• Consider carrying a mobile phone so that you could be contacted if you go out and a situation arises at home. You can get ‘pay as you go’ mobile phones on which you only pay for calls that you make, there is no rental charge. These are ideal for people who just want a phone for emergencies, and are very helpful because you can store all your emergency numbers on the phone.
• Consider asking for a Carers Assessment from Social Services – it can be a useful way to explore how you can reduce the worries and strains of caring.  Anyone providing regular and substantial care can ask for an assessment, it does not matter if you are a ‘self funder’ (person not entitled to have services paid for by Social Services on financial grounds) or not.  Anything you discuss is considered confidential and will not be shared with anyone without your consent, including the person you care for.   For further information see Social Services leaflet “Looking After a Relative or Friend” available from libraries, doctors’ surgeries and from The Hollies in Midsomer Norton or Social Services Reception at Lewis House, Manvers Street, Bath and also from the B&NES website.

Further information

• On the B&NES website, www.bathnes.gov.uk look under ‘Health & Social Care’ and follow the link ‘List of Adult Care Leaflets’. These are available in pdf format for printing out. You can also ask your local office to send you copies of this information.
• The Occupational Therapy Service can give advice on aids and how to find the best ones for you and the person you care for. You can contact them through the main Social Services contact number 01225 477000.
• The Care Network is your local carers organisation based at 1 Riverside Cottages, Radstock.  Telephone contact 01761 431389

The Care Network provides a range of services including:

• Independent information and advice for carers about anything from benefits, holidays for people with disabilities, sources of help
• Individual support and help  -  someone to talk to in confidence, by telephone helpline and in person
• Opportunities to meet other carers and to contribute to the shaping of local services

National Organisations and websites:

Carers UK – national organisation campaigning for carers – http://www.carersuk.org/

Government carers webpage containing much information about carer benefits and rights – http://www.carers.gov.uk/

Some useful information from Social Services includes:

• Informing You About Community Care  - a general leaflet explaining about how you can obtain services

• Eligibility Criteria For Social Services  - more detail about how decisions are made to provide services or not.

• Looking After a Relative of Friend –  a leaflet for carers of adults

Useful numbers