Lyn Bliss, who was born and raised in the town, is using her personal experience to help health and social care professionals understand the value carers can provide in helping the individuals they are supporting.
She is the carer of a loved one supported by ELFT community mental health services.
In partnership with People Participation Lead (Central Bedfordshire) Sheila Menzies and Carers’ Lead Catherine Aganoglu, Lynn is helping develop a training programme for Trust colleagues.
She has produced a report for Luton Council which helped define what a carer is, the importance of listening to carers and the unique insight they can provide when helping plan and deliver care.
It has been published by the council, shared internally and also shared with all partner agencies in the town.
Lyn is also helping ELFT deliver its own carers’ strategy and is involved with Quality Improvement (QI) work focused on carers.
She was invited to share her story with the ELFT Board at its meeting in November 2023, with members praising her work.
“Understanding about the value of carers has improved but there is still a tremendous amount of work to do,” she said.
“My aim is to empower carers and to raise awareness amongst all health and social care professionals that the carer knows the service user better than anyone else and the more they are involved, the better they can help.”
She added: “We also need to formally identify and record carers. They perform a unique role and the healthcare system needs to gather those details and consider the unique support that carers need.”
Mary Brazier, director of social work and the director responsible for the ELFT carers’ strategy, said: “I’m really proud of the work being done by Lyn, Catherine and Sheila in raising awareness of the needs of carers and supporting carers.
“Lyn is a valued member of the carers’ strategy implementation group, providing an essential contribution from her own experience.”