Young carers report

Healthwatch Milton Keynes received an invitation to bid for funding through NHS England to enable them to run an activity related to Carers. In line with our strategic priorities, and the programme of work Healthwatch Milton Keynes had developed for the year, they decided to use the money to run an activity aimed at reviewing Milton Keynes’ achievements against the benchmark standards set in the ‘Carers at the Heart of 21st Century Family’ green paper.

At the time of writing this report, frontline staff appear to be unaware of the pathway to the young carers statutory assessment that the directors and commissioners believe is in place which effectively means there is no clear pathway. The information on the Milton Keynes Council website mainly focusses on adult carers and those who need care, with contact details for these services readily available.

The Milton Keynes Council young carer’s webpage outlines some of the caring tasks that young carers may provide which may help a young person to clarify that they may be recognised as being a carer. However, the tasks described are of the type that legislation has said could be inappropriate for a young person to provide. The page goes on to state that young carers may miss out on things like school, sports and hobbies without explaining that the young person is protected by law from these types of tasks or missed opportunities. The page goes on to suggest that Young Carers MK could provide support but does not mention the duty of care that the council has to ensure the young carer is supported. It would be more appropriate for the webpage to make it clear that, if a young person is providing this level of care, or if they are missing out on schooling or a social life, they are entitled to a statutory assessment.

The webpage should also provide a direct pathway to requesting a statutory assessment. The onus of caring for young carers falls, by default, to Young Carers MK who are unable to provide relief from inappropriate care, although they are working with schools to ensure that young carers are not disadvantaged or penalised for having such heavy extracurricular responsibilities.