Carers at breaking point

80% of carers have reached breaking point. This is the finding of a new publication from Mencap called 'Breaking Point'. Families caring for people with severe or profound learning disabilities at home are in crisis due to a lack of support from Social Services.

These families want to care for their children but are struggling to cope with the demands of caring 24 hours a day with little or no support.

The report is available to read on the Mencap website, or by phoning the Mencap National Helpline on 0808 808 1111. The report is accompanied by an e–campaign to enable people to contact their MPs and urge them to support the campaign. With an estimated 2% of the Northern Ireland population having some form of learning disability, it is an issue we should also get involved in. The website also includes a number of other simple ways to get involved in the campaign at www.mencap.org.uk/breakingpoint .

The site tells Mandy’s story, the parent of an eight year old girl who has profound and multiple learning disabilities. Mandy says, “It seemed utterly impossible to convince anyone else that I needed help. They thought I was coping because I tried to keep my home tidy and my children were clean and went to school. Why did I have to completely break down before I was taken seriously? ”

Maureen Piggot, Director of Mencap in Northern Ireland said, “It is hard for anyone to imagine the extent of the caring role that some families face. It goes above and beyond what anyone would consider acceptable. But, they do not want praise or rewards - just appropriate help and support to enable them to go on caring. Carers save the government millions of pounds every year. It’s now time that they got some acknowledgement and help instead of being ignored until they completely break down ”.

Maureen continues, ”We want Social Services to urgently address the needs of these families, spend more money on short breaks and monitor how this is spent. We want the Government to do a lot more to monitor the breaks that families and people with a learning disability are getting and to put more money into learning disability services .”

For information about learning disability issues please call the Mencap Northern Ireland Information Services on 08457 636227.