A NEW plan was agreed this week which will see more support for unpaid carers across the region – including more respite care to give them some much-needed time off.
The Integration Joint Board (IJB), which is responsible for directing health and social care across Dumfries and Galloway, voted to approve a three-year plan that will see more short-term care and better access to support for people caring for elderly or disabled relatives and friends.
It means £2 million a year will be spent to support carers. The bulk of the funding will go to expanding respite support, in which a care at home provider or a care home takes over looking after someone for a few days to give their normal carer a break.
IJB chair Andy McFarlane said: “Our community depends on its 20,000 carers. The work they do is often unseen, often unrecognised and very often unpaid – but older people and vulnerable adults across the region simply could not manage without them.”
