Carers Rights

Your rights as a carer

As a carer you have certain rights, and these have been brought together in the Carers (Scotland) Act. The Carers’ charter contains information about your rights as an adult carer or young carer in Scotland.

Who is a carer

Anyone who provides (or intends to provide) care for another person is a carer. The exceptions to this are if the only reason for providing care is that the person is under 18, or if you are caring because you  have a contract or as voluntary work. You can be caring for someone for any number of hours, and you do not need to be providing a substantial amount of care for someone on a regular basis.

A young carer is any carer who is under the age of 18, or who is 18 or over and still attending school.

Information and advice

Carers Link provide information and advice for carers on behalf of East Dunbartonshire Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP). Any carer can contact us to find out about their rights, and the support available to them locally. The Coalition of Carers in Scotland and Carers Link have produced a range of leaflets to help you understand various aspects of your rights.

Adult carer support plan/ Young carer statement

All adult carers are entitled to an adult carer support plan, and all young carers are entitled to a young carer statement. This will be prepared following a conversation with you, and will contain information about your personal circumstances and caring role.  It will also identify your needs and the support that is available to meet these.

If you are caring for someone with a terminal illness, you may be able to get an Adult Carer Support Plan or Young Carer Statement more quickly. In this instance, a terminal illness is defined as a progressive disease where the person is not expected to live more than six months. Your Adult Carer Support Plan, or Young Carer Statement should be completed within 10 days.

Support for the person you care for

Support provided to the person that you care for can help you as a carer, and Carers Link can help you find out about what is available. The person you care for may be assessed to gather information about them and decide what support they need. Under the Carers Act your views and opinions must be taken into account as far as reasonable and practical.

Hospital discharge

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde must ensure that you are involved in the discharge of the person that you care for from hospital before they are discharged. This includes letting you know when the person you care for is to be discharged, inviting your views about the discharge and taking your views into account when planning the discharge (as far as ‘reasonable and practical’).

Carer involvement in services

Carer involvement is a key principle of the Act. It is intended to make sure that you can share your caring experiences and knowledge with those responsible for providing support or services. As well as involving carers in planning for the services that the person they care for receives, carers should be involved in planning the services that are available to carers.