Carers Week

June 9, 2023

This week we have been celebrating Carers Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness, highlight challenges faced by unpaid carers and recognise their contributions to families, communities and healthcare environments throughout the UK. The week can also serve to assist those people who don’t consider themselves to have caring responsibilities to help them to identify as carers and access much-needed support.

As noted by Carers Week, a carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, illness, mental health condition, addiction, or who needs extra help as they grow older.

Within our Trust, carers make an invaluable contribution to patient care and wellbeing, assisting our colleagues with their understanding of our patients and helping to communicate and nurture their loved ones. We would like to extend a thank you to all those who act as carers for their loved ones, both within our hospitals and to those colleagues who balance work with their caring responsibilities.

Mel Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer: “Carers provide support, encouragement, and of course, care, to patients across our acute sites and in our communities. It’s crucial that we recognise their vital contributions to the patient journey at SWB and provide the necessary support and understanding when their loved ones are under our care.

“We do, of course, have many working carers here at the Trust, who juggle their roles here with unpaid caring responsibilities outside of work. For Carers Week, I would like to say thank you to these groups; we recognise and value your strength, compassion and care.”