Who is a carer?

A Carer is a person of any age who takes on the responsibility of looking after someone else - a close family member, a relative or friend, who cannot mange at home without help because of frailty, illness or a mental or physical disability.

A Carer will provide a substantial amount of care for the person on a regular basis, but is not employed to do so in a paid or voluntary capacity.

The Council is committed to improving support to carers, whom it recognises as substantial providers of community care. All Carers share a need for information. Caring may bring practical, emotional and financial problems - it can help greatly to talk to someone.

In the East Riding of Yorkshire it is estimated that there could be as many as 40,000 carers, i.e. 1 in 7 of the population are looking after or providing some services for someone who is sick, elderly or disabled. Three out of ten carers look after someone in the same household, and one fifth of caregivers spend 20 hours or more caring each week.

Where can I get help/advice/assistance?

• Social Services can help and advise on a range of personal and practical problems and help you and your family obtain the services you need.
• Your family doctor will help - but mention that you are a carer. You should not feel as if you are wasting the Doctor's time as they will want to know your problems - so talk about any difficulties you are having.
• Staff working for the Hull and East Riding NHS Trust ( or any local health provider) who have been caring for the person for whom you care will also be able to offer assistance.

A register of carers has been developed to enable information to be effectively distributed. The East Riding of Yorkshire Carers Support Service aims to maintain and further develop the use of this register. Please click on the Carers Support Service for more details. Carers UK can provide more general information at their website - http://www.carersuk.org

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