Max Pemberton writes in the [UK] Telegraph that the six million people in Britain who take care of people with disabilities save taxpayers £87 billion a year – more than the total budget of the National Health Services (NHS). But a recent survey revealed that three out of four caregivers found their role so stressful that it had led them to the “breaking point”.

The awful thing was that the single most common reason cited for this was not the relentless emotional strain of caring, or the arduous physical challenges of the work, but the bureaucracy required to get NHS care. In particular, it was the complex, obtuse application procedures for respite care and benefits that ground people down to the point where they felt they could cope no longer.

Given that without carers, the health service would be crippled overnight, it seems counter-intuitive to make the very things that are intended to help them so difficult to access … At present they are roundly taken for granted and ignored until they collapse. As a resource they are precious and must be nurtured. Who cares for the carers?

Max Pemberton is the author of “Trust Me, I’m a (Junior) Doctor.”

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under caregivers, international. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.