The purpose of this scrutiny was two-fold: Firstly to try and establish how successful the Council is at identifying carers, and ensuring that they are aware of and are accessing the services the Council has to offer, and secondly, to try and learn more about the reality of life as a (largely unpaid) carer, and see if there are ways that we can improve the lot of carers, even when improving direct financial assistance is problematic.
The defining moment of this scrutiny was the meeting where we heard some very harrowing evidence from three carers in very different circumstances, all of whom had to cope with very different types of psychological stress and distress in the course of their caring role. Issues included coping with the daily incontinence of an elderly mother, to coping with the 24hr unpredictability and potentially self-harming behaviour of a psychotic son. What these carers have to live with on an ongoing day-to-day basis is shocking and distressing.
