Shropshire Star comment: Recognise the crisis in caring
Tired, stressed and suffering from fatigue. It’s a pattern that will be familiar to many people who are charged with looking after vulnerable adults.
Social care is a hidden epidemic that is seldom given the respect or reverence that it deserves.
Such caring goes on behind closed doors. Adults look after elderly parents with dementia or children with disabilities. Husbands care for wives with serious illnesses, or wives care for husbands. Neighbours call in on those who are lonely or suffering from mental health difficulties.
Such deeds come in many shapes and sizes. Sadly, the people responsible for caring seldom get the credit they deserve.
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It would be foolish to imagine that we can increase the level of social care given the prevailing conditions. The nation is strapped for cash, Government resources continue to be diverted towards exiting the European Union and there is a reluctance to tackle the issue head on. Costs are spiralling as we live longer and financial resources are scarce.
And yet there are ways in which local and national tiers of Government can assist. Greater support can be put in place to help those who provide care in the home. It is a cost-effective and morally correct approach. Home carers save the Treasury colossal sums of money each year. Lest we forget, day centres and other social centres have closed at an alarming rate in recent times.
We should also become more aware of the difficulties involved. For those who look after loved ones are less able to obtain employment and stick to their own, normal schedule. They are at the sharp end when it comes to looking after others and it is not surprising that they frequently feel depressed and suffer from mental and physical strain.
Unpaid carers frequently lose sleep and worry about how they’ll make ends meet while continuing to provide care for 100 hours a week or more.
We know that the NHS and local councils do not have a bottomless pit of money from which to draw. But our priorities must shift. Carers must have financial and moral support so that they can continue to help others. If we stop for a moment and consider the contribution we make and how we would be lost without them, as a society we would soon step up to the plate.
