Supporting Carers in the Hospital – North East Lincolnshire
On this page
- Lead organisation
Carers’ Support Service
- Project contact
David Wilson info.nel@carerssupportcentre.com
We have a range of projects that support carers at the hospital. Each project is effective in its own right, but together they ensure the needs of Carers and the person they care for are met comprehensively.
Our key element is the dedicated Hospital Liaison Worker (HLW), employed by The Carers’ Support Service; they identify carers to: refer to other services, provide support and information, liaise between Carer, staff and patient and ensure appropriate and necessary support is in place at the hospital from admittance to discharge. They raise awareness on the ward, supported by hospital initiatives such as the Hospital carer mission statement and carers strategy.
They also ensure identified Carers are given a Carers Lanyard – a card that allows Carers to access the ward to support their cared for person outside of visiting hours.
The HLW also promotes the Carers Hospital Guide, created by our carers’ forum, and ensures it is given out with the Carers Lanyard. It has tips, contacts and questions for carers to consider as well as identifying key support in the hospital.
Our Home from Hospital team are also available to identify Carers on the ward or be a referral point for our HLW; their goal is to support carers to get the cared for person home, by linking them with formal support (telecare, adaptations) and meeting informal (ineligible) needs, such as ensuring the electricity is on, food in, emotional support for the carer etc.
- Partners
North East Lincolnshire Carers Voice, North East Lincolnshire ICB, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Friendship at Home
- Project duration
April 2023 – March 2024
(has now been extended for a further 12 months)
- Key beneficiaries
Adult Carers, Parent Carers, Sandwich Carers, Young Adult Carers
Supporting Carers in the Hospital – North East Lincolnshire
Why we started this initiative
Carers were not being identified and referred for support by the hospital. We also know that Carers often feel like their caring role is not recognised or valued in healthcare settings.
We wanted to change this. We know that both Primary and Secondary care are settings that Carers commonly use/visit. We knew (from experience with other projects) that targeted projects would result in better Carer identification, support, recognition and inclusion. What we didn’t know is how successful it would be.
Our goals
The goals of the initiative are to:
- Identify more Carers at the Hospital
- Refer Carer for appropriate support services Ensure Carers are informed
- Recognise and value the role of Carers
- Involve Carers in patient care
- Facilitate the discharge of those with Carers from hospital
- Improve the likelihood of discharges being successful/reduce re-admission
Broadly the initiative improves Carer and patient experience, and aims to embed supporting Carers in day to day hospital procedure and policy.
The video and supplementary information linked below gives more detail about what we have achieved so far.
The Hospital Liaison Worker (HLW) conducts ward rounds and works with staff and patients 5 days a week. Initiatives like the Carers Lanyard and Carers Guide aid the identification and recognition of Carers.
The Home from Hospital service links Carers and Patients with support that enables and in some cases speeds up the discharge process.
The Hospital Liaison Worker (HLW) puts the Carer at the centre of all this support, ensuring Carers are able to manage and maintain their caring role during and beyond a cared for persons stay in hospital.
The HLW ensures staff across the hospital are familiar with all Carer initiatives.
Learnings
- Any organisation that has tried working with health settings will say that persistence is key. Always be professional, no matter how frustrated you may get.
- Find out who does what and focus your time on creating relationships with key people who can help you move your initiative forward.
- From the health professionals themselves, they say they are extremely busy (they aren’t lying) – Make things simple and easy to action.
- Initiatives need time and money – time to realise their potential, time to embed, time to repeat (because of staff turnover), money for resource and staff time. NEVER rely on free time/volunteers to drive important and lasting change. If it matters, it should be funded properly.
- If you want funding, you need to have some evidence that what you want to do is likely to work/achieve outcomes that are important to your commissioner, local authority, ICB etc. Very few ideas have never been done before – don’t be shy about approaching other organisations, they are usually very willing to share information, resources and research that will help you with your project/initiative. United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust shared their information with us about their Hospital Lanyard and the benefits of it.
- ALWAYS include Carers. Every step of the way. Make sure that Carers think your idea is a good idea. We asked our Carers Voice Forum what their challenges are with the hospital and what they hoped we would achieve with our Hospital Liaison worker.