Commissioner responds to Unpaid Carers Inquiry report

Commissioner responds to Unpaid Carers Inquiry report

Responding to the publication of the Health and Social Care Committee report following its Inquiry into Improving Access to Support for Unpaid Carers, Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Rhian Bowen-Davies, said:

“The Committee’s damning report makes clear that many carers are living in a state of ‘isolation and despair’, a situation that has persisted for many years.

“Far from delivering the improvements promised, recognising the crucial support provided by unpaid carers across Wales which is worth billions of pounds a year, successive governments have failed to deliver on the promises they made to support carers, many of whom are older people.

“Instead, many carers find that their situations have got worse and that they are left to face increasing challenges without sufficient support, something that has a hugely damaging effect on carers’ own health, well-being and quality of life, as well as that of the person being cared for.

“The report also highlights significant and concerning gaps between policy and practice. According to the Committee, assurances that public bodies are meeting their statutory duties do not reflect the lived experiences of unpaid carers and there also seems to be a lack of urgency to deliver the improvements required.

“Many unpaid carers across Wales will be unsurprised by the Committee’s findings, but will rightly feel let down and, in my view, will have little faith they will see meaningful change based on their experiences to date.

“That’s why the next Welsh Government needs to produce a detailed action plan setting out how it will respond rapidly to the issues raised by the Committee, with clear timescales for delivery.

“The time for warm words and empty rhetoric is over: unpaid carers must see clear, sustained action that delivers the support they have a right to.”