There might be times when you are less able or unable to look after the person you look after, for example in an emergency. An Emergency Carers card can provide you with peace of mind, allowing someone you’ve nominated to step in, until you can resume your caring responsibilities.
Emergency Carers Card
Islington Carers Hub can support you to join the Carers Emergency Card Scheme.
The Emergency Carers Card is for people who care for someone with a long term health problem or who is physically disabled.
The Emergency Carers Card itself is size of a credit card so you can carry it with you. On the card is:
- Carers name
- Your unique ID
- The number you call to access emergency care support
What does the card provide?
Carrying an Emergency Carer’s Card means that if the Council are told you’ve had an emergency, they will tell the people that you have nominated about the emergency so that these people can step in. If you don’t have anyone who you can nominate, the council will provide the necessary care until the emergency is over.
How can I get one?
To join the scheme please contact Islington Carers Hub, who will need to complete a Carers Assessment with you. This includes a section called ‘Planning for Emergencies’.
For this, you’ll need the following information:
- The name and contact details of 1 or 2 people who have agreed to be your nominated helpers in an emergency (including whether they hold keys to the home of the person you care for)
- If you don’t have anyone to nominate, Social Services can step in in an emergency.
- Any details your nominated people or Social Services may need to know about looking after the person you care for, such as
- Where are the medicines kept?
- Does the person speak English? Or take a long time to answer the door? Are there other communication problems? Food allergies?
- Right down to “Don’t let the cat get out!”
The assessments are done on behalf of Social Services directly on their system, so they may contact you to discuss the level of emergency support the person you care for would need. They’ll then put all that information down on the confidential telecare database who will then issue your application with a unique reference number and instruct Islington Carers Hub to produce and send the card to you.
Then, if you have an emergency, you or someone else can call the emergency number on your card, quote that reference number and Social Services will take care of the rest.
Contact Islington Carers Hub
For more information or if you have any questions, get in touch with us on 020 7281 3319 or email info@islingtoncarershub.org.
