At our October meeting, carers had a long discussion which could be summarised as four issues:
- Crisis response: Carers described how the crisis response had been an ongoing issue. This is something that services are currently looking at.
- Respite: There is no respite for carers locally. Now service users are being treated more in the community, there needs to be more support for carers. We will look at provision in other Boroughs, especially in Halton.
- Medication: Carers want more involvement and support around medication. They are concerned about side effects, and want to know about alternatives to medication. Carers worry about changes to medication. A few years ago, medications would be changed during an inpatient stay. Now this is happening at home and it worries families.
- Discharge and readmission to services: Some carers were concerned about how to seek help again once the person they support is discharged from secondary care. Anyone can call the Open Mind service or their GP.
We will take these to be the four key issues for mental health carers in the Borough.
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