Carers Information
Who is a Carer?
A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support. Anyone can become a carer; they come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be of any age. Carers are extremely important to the NHS, however, too often they do not receive the recognition and support they need and deserve.
The role of a carer is very diverse and can encompass a multitude of activities including, helping people to the toilet, helping with washing, dressing or moving around the home. The carers role can also include shopping, cleaning, cooking, laundering of clothes, assisting with medication, managing money and taking people to attend appointments.
Carers Charter
Our commitment to supporting and improving the experience of carers has led to the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation trust signing up to the acute hospitals carers charter and we continue to strive towards improving carer experience.
Preparing For Discharge
It is important you tell us as soon as possible if you have any worries or concerns about taking your loved one home from hospital. Here is some useful advice for preparing for discharge.
Carer Information Boards
These boards can be found across the hospital. The carer information boards have a wealth of information on them and contain variety of information signposting people to local carer support agencies including the Alzheimer’s society .
Carers Survey
Your feedback is important to us so that we can continue to make improvements in how we support carers. Please complete a carers survey.
Contact Us
If you have any queries or question as a carer then please contact Karen O'Leary (Patient Experience Liaison Nurse) - karen.oleary@royalberkshire.nhs.uk.
Further Support
Age UK have been in Berkshire over 50 years and provide a wide range of services specifically to support people in later life.
Age UK have also set up an excellent website called Dementia Friendly. It was created to provide information and signposting in one central place to support all people across West Berkshire affected by dementia and the carers of those people.
People from other areas can access it too for information and signposting.
As the UK's only national membership charity for carers, Carers UK is both a supportive community and a movement for change. For the past 50 years they have been driven by carers raising their voices together to call for change and seek recognition and support.
Looking after someone can be a rewarding experience but it can also be lonely and bewildering. At these times, you need people around you who really understand caring.
Unpaid carers in Reading, can use their Listening Support Service. The service involves trained volunteers calling unpaid carers to let them talk to someone who understands the challenges of caring.
Carer support in Reading and West Berkshire
For carer support in Wokingham please contact 0118 974 6000
For many people living with cancer, facing their illness without the dedicated and affectionate support of their family and friends would be unbearable.
For carer’s themselves though, looking after a loved one who has cancer can undoubtedly be an extremely worrying and stressful time and can have a significant impact on their own physical and mental health.
However, there is a lot of support available to help carers who are looking after someone with cancer.
This is an organisation who offer support and information to anyone who has concerns about cancer, their relatives, friends and carers.
You can also visit your local Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
You are a carer if you look after a partner, family member or friend who is dependent on you for care and/or support because they are older and frail, disabled, have a long term illness or they need help with everyday tasks because of a significant mental health problem and/or a problem with drugs or alcohol.
If you provide necessary unpaid care or support to an adult family member, friend or partner, you may be eligible for support.
Adult carers that look after someone who lives within West Berkshire can request a carer's assessment.