Unpaid carers call for help as 'the pressure is awful'

Lorna Murray cares for daughter Naomi

Unpaid carers in Surrey are calling on the new government to recognise their role in taking pressure off the NHS and social care system.

Labour had said a national strategy was needed to prioritise carers’ wellbeing before the election but there have been no policy announcements since they took power, including in the King’s Speech this week.

One carer told BBC Radio Surrey that more financial support was needed as well as extra help to take breaks and holidays.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said that it "recognised the challenges" that carers are facing.

During the King's Speech debate, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the issue of care needed "urgent attention"

Ms Murray and her husband care for their 28-year-old daughter, Naomi, who is disabled and unable to walk, talk or do anything for herself.

“You have to be there to help her with everything,” said Ms Murray.

“The pressure is awful and you just don’t get enough help.”

She says the issue of care needs to be higher up on the government's agenda.

“I don’t want to see it left to the bottom of the pile, that everything else is so important... carers need to come up that ladder."

Kathy Barton-Kane, from Sunbury-on-Thames, looks after her 97-year-old mother, who has dementia.

“I think [the government] need to recognise the job that we do,” she said.

“Yes I do get carer's allowance, but what I get is not a living wage.”

The allowance is currently about £2 per hour.

The DWP spokesperson added: “Our country would grind to a halt without the thousands of carers who support vulnerable people, it is right that we support them through benefits including Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit.

“We recognise the challenges they are facing, and we are determined to provide unpaid carers with the support they need and deserve.”