The City and Hackney Centre for Mental Health held the grand opening of the Family, Friends and Carers Hub, to provide support for relatives, friends and carers of those with mental health conditions.
The new Hub is an initiative that brings together the City and Hackney Carers Centre, Hackney Young Carers Service, Carers First and Turning Point with Hackney Council and the East London Foundation Trust to make sure that the full fantastic offer to carers in the City and Hackney is made easily available to them.
The Hub will utilise a new family liaison role based on the hospital wards to make sure that within 48 hours of admission, informal carers are contacted and offered helpful and necessary information.
It will also aim to aid carers to:
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Feel as though they are ‘part of the healthcare team’ by looking after the person/s they care for.
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Access the full offer of emotional and practical help available and are offered a carers assessment.
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Learn more about mental health, and access advice to support them in their care-giving roles.
Staff working as part of the Hub will contact carers and young carers with the full range of guidance which exists for them across City and Hackney, which might include:
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Coaching.
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Counselling.
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Experience sharing.
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Assistance to apply for grants or a carer’s direct payment.
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Concise explanations of mental health diagnoses and treatments.
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Ways to assist individuals suffering from alcohol and substance misuse.
Young carers will also have access to activities such a trips or homework clubs.
The Trust’s People Participation team – which consists of those with lived experiences looking to improve services – would like to receive community feedback about the support provided for carers at ELFT. This can be accessed via this link.
Speaking about the launch of the Hub, the Senior Carers Lead for the City and Hackney Carers Service, Sam McGavin, said: “Our team is delighted to be launching the Family, Friends and Carers Hub. We acknowledge the incredible dedication of carers to look after their loved ones, and want to do everything we can to support them, support others.
“This Hub will provide an opportunity for the caring community to learn more about their roles, while accessing information for themselves should they require it.”
If you would like to learn more about the Family, Friends and Carers Hub, or the ways the Trust looks out for carers across the City and Hackney, you can email Sam at samuel.mcgavin@nhs.net.