Doctors’ help with eldercare

In the run up to publication of my new book Carers and Caring; the One Stop Guide; how to care for older relatives and friends I am sharing an A to Z of some of the practical solutions learned from research and experience. If you think any problems have been missed you can email me and tell me, and I’ll make sure they are covered in the next edition and online on my website at www.juneandrews.net.  Today is D for Doctor, by which I mainly mean your family doctor, at the local health centre, your GP.

 How your doctor can help

The Royal College of General Practitioners has noted that nine out of ten carers visit their local GP surgery every year, but many of them do not say they are carers. You must let your GP know that you are a carer and make sure that it is put in your own medical records. They can use other methods to discover you, but why would you not help? Many practices have at least one member who leads on carers’ issues. They might be administrative or clinical, but they are the source of information. They have a register which they use to call in carers for flu jabs or health checks and to send out newsletters or information about relevant events in the local area. They recognise the value of engaging with carers. There might be a poster in the waiting room advertising this.

Some doctors have a carer pack that they give to carers which includes:

·      A letter informing you of the benefits they offer carers, such as the flu jab.

·      A letter to the patient asking them to consent to you accessing relevant medical information.

·      A carer’s leaflet.

·      A list of your local carer organisations and other health agencies and resources. 

·      Past newsletters for carers from the practice or a local organisation. 

The doctor will be able to help you by writing letters about issues such as the Blue Badge scheme and Attendance Allowance. In addition, ask the district nurse if they can support you by putting you in touch with other services and letting you know what is available in your local area. Your GP will find it hard to keep up to date with local carer support services, or carer breaks and grants, but they can let you know about local carer organisations who should be more up to date. 

When they know about you, the family doctor can be more flexible about home visits and give you double appointments when you can talk to them about your own health and then they can talk to the person you are caring for about their health. Of course, that only works if you both have the same GP. It saves you having to make double journeys. But even if you have the same GP, things can go wrong if the person you care for won’t cooperate. 

GPs are much more receptive these days to spotting dementia and supporting dementia carers. However, they do get tangled up in ideas of patient confidentiality if the person who appears to have dementia won’t talk to the doctor about it.  In a case like this, you may be able to get help from a local Alzheimer organisation, who will have met this sort of situation before and may know of sympathetic clinicians who will be able to help a carer in these circumstances.

There is much more about how your GP can help you in  Carers and Caring: The One-Stop Guide: How to care for older relatives and friends - with tips for managing finances and accessing the right support  available from all good bookshops in May 2022

Three hints:

1.     Get registered as a carer with the GP

2.     Make sure you have got consent to share medical information

3.     Keep an eye out for information about local carer initiatives