Looking after someone

A carer is someone who provides unpaid care for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without the carer’s support.

As a carer, you may help with tasks such as getting up and going to bed, washing, dressing, using the toilet, shopping, cleaning, laundry and making meals. The care may mean keeping an eye on people who are confused or at risk if not supervised or encouraging them to do everyday things for themselves.

All carers can ask for support to help make caring easier. This could be:

  • advice and information to help you in your role as an unpaid carer
  • practical support such as arranging for someone to step in when you need a short break
  • a personal budget to spend on things that will help you to carry on caring
  • psychological support

Recognising that you are a carer is the first step to getting the support you need. You may be entitled to an assessment if you care for someone and it has an impact on your wellbeing.

Supporting carers

To support carers the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Barking and Dagenham Clinical Commissioning Group have worked with nationally recognised charity Carers UK to develop a set of plans for improving the support offered to carers locally. We have worked with carers themselves, managers and frontline practitioners from across social care, health, and the voluntary sector to set out the things we think need to improve, and how we will get there

Carers charter (PDF, 400KB)

Carers of Barking and Dagenham

We work closely with Carers of Barking and Dagenham to support carers in the borough. They provide advice, information and support for people who care. Whether you are a parent or child, husband or wife, partner, close relative or friend they are there to provide help when you need it.