A carer is anyone who provides unpaid care and support to a friend or relative. The person they care for may have a disability, illness, addiction, or need extra help as they grow older. Most of us will be a carer at some point in our lives.
Carers play an essential role in supporting the people who access our services.
Our Carer Promise
Our Carer Promise was launched in 2023. Carers and staff worked together to co-produce it. We promise that:
You will be recognised, valued, and involved.
We will work together with you to ensure we are all aware of your needs as a carer.
We will listen to you, share information with you, and be honest with you when there is information we cannot share.
We will talk with you about where you can get further help and information, and what you can expect from us.
Getting to know you as a carer, and involving you in the treatment of the person you care for
When you first have contact with our services, our staff will talk with you. Getting to know you and working alongside you to support the person you care for is important.
We’ll talk to you to understand how you care for the person we are treating. To find out how best to support them, we might ask you about things like
their background and family circumstances
their past experiences in hospital
what has worked (or not) for them in the past
their usual behaviour
their needs, preferences, likes and dislikes
use your knowledge to personalise the support and treatment they get
And we want to find out how we can support you, too.
Our staff will ask you if you agree to us holding information about you in your own ‘carer record’. This is a confidential record held on our secure electronic system. It is separate from the patient record of the person you care for.
Having a ‘carer record’ means you don’t need to repeat your story to different staff, and we know what ongoing support you need.
Staff will talk to you more about this and answer any questions you have. They will not create a ‘carer record’ for you without your consent.
Savings and benefits with our Carer Card
Our staff should offer you a ‘carer card’.
This entitles you to free parking at our sites, and a 50% discount at our on-site cafes.
This is one of the ways we are trying to make sure that carers are recognised and valued.
The Triangle of Care is a quality improvement scheme for mental health care providers. The Carers Trust developed it to encourage better involvement of carers and families in the care and treatment of people with mental health conditions.
The idea at the heart of the Triangle of Care is that carers, people who use services, and professionals should work in equal partnership to "promote safety, support recovery and sustain wellbeing".
We have achieved Triangle of Care accreditation for more than ten years. There are six key standards we must meet:
Carers and the essential role they play are identified at first contact, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Staff are ‘carer aware’ and trained in carer engagement strategies. We’ve worked with carers to develop Carer Awareness Training for our staff. Every member of our staff who might come into contact with carers should receive this training. The training is co-delivered with carers and / or representatives from local carer organisations.
Policy and practice protocols re: confidentiality and sharing information are in place.
Defined post(s) responsible for carers are in place. Many of our services employ Carer Leads, Family Ambassadors, or Carer Peer Supporters. These are people with their own lived experience of being a carer. They work with carers and other staff, to make sure carers are involved throughout someone’s treatment with us.
A carer introduction to the service is available, with a relevant range of information across the care pathway.
Carers can take part in our Involvement Bank (including our Youth Involvement Bank for people aged 11-18). Have your say and help us to shape services.
There are also several ways to give us feedback. We want to hear about your experiences, whether we’ve done something well or need to improve.
