Caring for our carers

We all have an important role in making sure we recognise and support our unpaid carers, and they have barriers removed so they can access and receive care in an appropriate, enabling, and supportive way.

It’s our aspiration to have a Carer Champion in every service. Our carer champion’s will act as a staff voice for carers accessing your service and be a key point of contact for carer information within your service.

The role of the Carer Champion includes:

• Being the link person between carers and staff
• Providing information to staff, patients and families about carers and support
• Raising awareness of carers and support available
• Helping carers understand the ward environment and/or the service
• Developing links with other services/professionals
• Developing links with families and friends
• Signposting carers in the right direction for support.

The Carer Champion will:

• Attend carer champion meetings and training
• Be a member of the Carer Champion Network where they can keep up to date with information, developments and opportunities
• Be provided with time to attend meetings, events and specified training
• Provide support to the Team Manager on the Triangle of Care standards.

If you are interested in becoming a Carer Champion or you are already a Carer Champion and would like to continue in this role, please speak to your line manager and contact the Carer Engagement Team on:

Email: carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

Phone number: 01925 972 801

Our Carer Support Pathway offers the following opportunities for unpaid carers:

• Support to access Carers Centres and other local community organisations to support emotional and physical wellbeing
• The opportunity to get involved in coproduction and engagement activities
• Regular updates from the Carer Engagement Team
• The opportunity to access peer support
• The opportunity to access the Carer Training Education and Support Program (TES).

To access the Carer Support Pathway, you must be aged 18 or over and be caring for someone under a Mersey Care service. For more information, or for a copy of the referral form, please contact the Carer Engagement Team by emailing carers@merseycare.nhs.uk or calling 01925 972 801.

The Triangle of Care is a self-assessment tool for mental health providers developed by the Carers’ Trust in 2010. It’s based on the principle that care is made better by making sure there are good working relationships between the patient, health professional and the carer. It helps services think about how they engage carers and supports them in making changes that promote a carer aware culture on our wards and in our teams.

In August 2024, the Triangle of Care audit will be relaunched across Secure and Mental Health Care Divisions onto AMaT, with the first quarterly submission being due in September 2024.

April 2025 will see the launch of Triangle of Care across Community Care Division.

For more information on training and resources to support Triangle of Care implementation, please email the Carer Engagement Team at carers@merseycare.nhs.uk

More information about the Triangle of Care can be found on their website.

We are pleased to launch of our new Carer’s Passport for our inpatient settings. The passport has been designed in partnership with NHS Trusts within Merseyside and Cheshire. The passport was developed to highlight the importance of carers and promote a culture that recognises and values carers and their needs.

The Carer Passport includes a partnership agreement between hospital staff and the carer as to their involvement in care provision, discussions, and emotional support for the patient during their stay in hospital.

How the passport can help

The passport will make an enormous difference to our patients and carers, but also to our staff, as carers play a key role in providing reassurance, supporting mealtimes and treatment regimes, and their participation in discussions around discharge planning is essential.

Examples of support may include: 

• Supporting engagement with treatment plans
• Assistance and encouragement at mealtimes 
• Emotional support and reassurance to reduce significant agitation or distress 
• Assisting with communication needs 
• Altered visiting times and arrangements.

How to use the passport

The carer passport should be completed with the carer and ward manager/nurse in charge or appropriate nominated ward staff.

An agreement form will be completed during this conversation which will include the following steps:

• Completing the patient's name and carer name/names  
• Reviewing the concessions and agree what is required and can be provided for this episode of care, by ticking the relevant box 
• Ward manager/nurse in charge and carer sign the agreement  
• The carer is issued with small card with ward details to indicate that the passport has been issued
• Document that the passport has been agreed and ensure that all ward staff are made aware. 

For more information or to order more passports for your ward, please email the Carer Engagement Team at carers@merseycar.nhs.uk