Help and support for Carers |
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Are you a Carer?
A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for another person - usually a family member or friend who due to physical or mental illness, disability, frailty or addiction could not always manage without this support. This is not the same as someone who provides care professionally or through a voluntary organisation.
This includes parent carers as well as children and young people with caring responsibilities.
RUH commitment to carers
At the RUH we are committed to supporting carers and you are welcome on the wards and in departments. We recognise and value you as partners in care, and our aims to support carers are set out in the hospital’s Carers Charter - see below:
Help for when someone you care for is at the RUH
If you are visiting hospital, please let one of the nursing staff know that you are a carer, and we will do all we can to support you and the person you care for.
Contacting the ward
If you need to speak to a ward member of staff, when you are not in the hospital, you can find the ward telephone numbers here.
Information about your loved one
If you have any questions about the care and treatment your loved one is receiving, please ask to speak with the ward’s most senior person on duty.
What to do if you have a concern
If you have any questions or concerns about the care and attention your loved one is receiving, please contact the ward and ask to speak with the most senior person on duty.
If your questions or concerns are not answered by ward staff, you can contact the Patient Support and Complaints Team.
Visiting hours
The majority of our inpatient wards welcome visitors anytime between 11am and 8pm. However, we recognise that some patients need additional support to meet their communication, health or social care needs and value your knowledge and input into this. If you are on the ward to support the needs of a patient as a carer, you will be made to feel welcome and will not be counted as a visitor.
John’s Campaign
We support carers to have open access to visiting, and to stay with patients who have enhanced needs and require extra support.
Access to food and drink
Information about places to go for a drink or a bite to eat, or to buy a much needed item.
Parking information and travel to the RUH
We encourage carers to leave your car at home and use alternative means of travel to the hospital. However, if this is not possible, carers who are supporting patients in the hospital may be eligible to access discounted parking. Talk to a senior member of the ward team about carer eligibility to register for discounted parking. Read more here.
Toilets and washing facilities
If you are a carer, we recommend you speak to a senior member of the ward team about the facilities available to carers either on, or close to, the ward.
Wi-Fi access
Free Wi-Fi is available to enable patients and carers to browse the internet using their own device, such as a smartphone or tablet. The Wi-Fi allows streaming of TV services including: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and Bath Radio. information about how to access NHS WiFi.
Rest and sleep
If you are a carer, we recommend you speak to a senior member of the ward team about the facilities available for staying overnight on the ward.
Interpreters
If you, or the person you care for, needs an interpreter to support communication with staff, we provide foreign language and BSL interpreter services. Please speak to a senior member of the ward team about arranging for an interpreter.
Spiritual and cultural support
Spiritual and cultural needs are individual to each person regardless of faith beliefs or cultural background. The hospital staff are always prepared to discuss concerns and provide support. There is a chaplaincy service in the RUH.
If you can’t visit, but want to send a message
If you are unable to visit, we can help you to keep in touch by passing on a message to the person you care for. All inpatient areas have an iPhone to support patients with ongoing contact with their family and friends. We can also help by passing on a message to your loved one in hospital. This service is designed to let patients know that their friends and loved ones are well, thinking of them and sending their best wishes.
Email ruh-tr.keepingintouch@nhs.net or call
Please provide the patient's name, date of birth, location or ward if known, and your details including your relationship to the patient.
We also offer a Family Liaison Service across our medical and surgical wards, which can provide support to patients, their families and friends. More information can be found here.
Involving you in your loved one's stay in hospital
We appreciate that families, friends and neighbours have an important role in meeting the care needs of many of our patients, both before they are admitted to hospital and after they have been discharged.
We want to make sure that, if you look after someone, you are involved during their stay in hospital, and in planning for their discharge.
Looking after yourself
The role of a carer can be stressful and it is important to remember your own health needs. If you are worried about your health talk to your GP. Make sure you register as a carer at your GP practice.
You can get more information on caring for yourself from the NHS website.
The NHS Practical Guide to Healthy Caring may help you if you have caring responsibilities. It is written to be particularly relevant for those who are aged 65 years or older and are new to caring.
The Carers Centres can also provide lots of guidance and can offer support for your caring role including:
- Advice and information on your caring role
- Drop-in support groups and carer cafés
- Carers Emergency Card
- Carer activities and breaks
- Carer newsletter
- Training and practical skills workshops to help you care
- Carer talk and support service
- Carer Assessments
- Working Carers
Carer Support Wiltshire:
0800 181 4118
www.carersupportwiltshire.co.uk
BANES Carers Centre:
0800 0388 885
Somerset Carers:
0800 31 68 600
Carers Support Centre Bristol & South Gloucestershire:
0117 965 2200
www.carerssupportcentre.org.uk
Other useful organisations
See the RUH carers information web page
Support for carers who are admitted to hospital
If you are a carer and you are admitted to hospital yourself, it is important that you make hospital staff aware of your caring responsibilities; so that there will be support while you are in hospital and once you are discharged home.
Tell us about your experience - Learning from you
Carer experience matters and your feedback is very important if we are to provide a quality service, which meets the needs of patients and their carers. We welcome carers comments about their experience of the services provided by the RUH.
If you care for a person who has been an inpatient or is a patient on a ward, please complete this questionnaire.