WOMEN DRIVEN TO THE BRINK BY CARE CRISIS

Shock figures show toll on female carers’ mental health

THE appalling toll of the social care crisis on women can be revealed today.

Official figures show that looking after loved ones is having devastating effects on their health and quality of life.

Women are twice as likely as men to be left caring for a relative and are at much higher risk of depression, loneliness and other illnesses.

The figures come from a major NHS survey of 50,800 unpaid carers which found that 68 per cent of them are female.

Half of the women said they did not have enough time to look after themselves by either eating properly or getting enough sleep.

One in five – 21 per cent – said they were neglecting their own health. Another 48 per cent felt depressed and 32 per cent had consulted their GP because their caring responsibilities were making them ill.

The Daily Mail launched a campaign two months ago calling on the Government to

address the social care crisis urgently, particularly on dementia. Almost 345,000 readers have signed our petition demanding action.

Campaigners said the figures showed more state funding was vital. ‘Dementia care is a mess, and it’s mostly women picking up the strain,’ said Sally Copley of the Alzheimer’s Society.

‘Without a properly funded system of dementia care, more skilled and experienced women are leaving the workforce than ever before to look after family members and loved ones with dementia.’

Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: ‘ Each day many women go above and beyond to care for their loved ones. The failings of the care system mean that women in particular are often left to pick up the pieces. Some are at breaking point and many are at risk of it.

‘Women shouldn’t have to care alone and unsupported as is happening far too often today.’

Yesterday Boris Johnson vowed to spend £13billion on 40 new hospitals at the Tory Party conference in Manchester but made no mention of

‘Left to pick up the pieces’

social care. He promised to fix the social care crisis ‘once and for all’ in his first speech as Prime Minister back in July but has not made any further announcements.

The Mail analysed the latest results from an NHS Digital survey of 50,800 adult carers which was published in late June.

The figures show that 78 per cent of women carers have limited control over their daily lives, some describing themselves as ‘socially isolated’. A third of carers of both sexes were looking after dementia sufferers with the rest coping with cancer patients or others with long-term conditions.

This research has been undertaken every two years since 2012/13 and the latest figures suggest the situation is getting worse.

Increasing numbers of the country’s estimated seven million carers report being depressed, socially isolated, lacking sleep or having to see their GP for reasons relating to their responsibilities.

The results were consistently worse for women, half of whom had been forced to take a financial hit, often because they had less time for work.

The Mail’s campaign is urging Mr Johnson to set up a cross-party group to find a funding solution for social care as well as appoint a dedicated Cabinet minister.

Research by the Alzheimer’s Society at the weekend suggested that 112,000 adults had left their jobs over the past year to look after loved ones with dementia.

Helen Walker of the charity Carers UK said: ‘Women in the UK are hit harder by unpaid caring responsibilities than men, particularly in their 40s, 50s and 60s. The negative impact this can have on women’s careers, finances and general quality of life is stark.’

The largest proportion of carers were in the 55 to 64 age bracket – a quarter of the total. As many as 37 per cent said they were suffering from physical strain, such as back problems from lifting, and 25 per cent said they had developed a health condition from caring, which might include joint problems or depression.

A further 65 per cent reported feeling stressed and 43 per cent said they were short tempered or irritable.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We are working to support unpaid carers by helping them to stay in or find employment and ensuring they have access to paid breaks or respite care.

‘We have given local authorities an extra £1.5billion for adult and children’s social care next year, on top of existing grants, to continue to stabilise the sector. The Government will set out plans to fix the social care system in due course.’

SO begins the Tory conference the opposition parties tried to prevent – and doubtless still hope to wreck.

In a pathetic display of spite, they first blocked a Commons recess allowing Conservative MPs to attend the annual gathering – held this year in Manchester.

Now they are plotting ways of cutting it short, possibly via a no- confidence vote which would see those MPs summoned back to Westminster.

The sad truth is that in the absence of any meaningful purpose, this dysfunctional Parliament has descended into petulance and malice.

They huff and puff about Boris Johnson’s supposed unfitness to govern, yet offer no alternative and cynically thwart the only way to break the deadlock – a general election. It’s true Mr Johnson has made mistakes. He now acknowledges that accusing a female MP of ‘humbug’ when she warned of the dangers of inflammatory language was insensitive. Equally, the decision to expel 21 MPs who failed to toe his Brexit line was unnecessarily brutal. And accusations that, when London mayor, he channelled funds to an organisation run by a woman with whom he had a close personal relationship cannot be airily dismissed. There may have been – as he insists – no impropriety, but questions must be answered.

In his defence, the Prime Minister has been subjected to an extraordinary barrage of hostility from his opponents.

While going into vapours about his use of words, such as surrender and betrayal – they scream ‘liar’, ‘ cheat’ and ‘fascist’ almost every time he rises from the green benches.

Compared with these hypocrites, he has been a paragon of restraint.

This week he must stay calm, and use his vaunted oratorical skills to reunite his party for the struggle ahead.

Despite recent travails, there is cause for optimism. The Tories still lead in the polls and Mr Johnson’s personal ratings soar above those of hapless Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour’s internal polling is said to suggest the party could lose up to 100 seats at a general election. No wonder they’re so scared of having one.

But Mr Johnson can’t rely on the hopelessness of his opponents to win a majority. He must project his own vision, for Brexit and beyond.

He might start by explaining how he would pull Britain out of the EU by October 31 if he doesn’t get a deal – a move that now appears to be illegal.

However, he clearly still hopes an agreement can be struck. And though improbable, it’s not impossible.

There have been signs that Europe is in the mood for negotiation. National leaders, notably Angela Merkel, realise that further delay means more uncertainty and plummeting business confidence across the EU. This is making them very nervous.

With or without a deal however, the Prime Minister must drive forward his domestic agenda. He has imaginative plans for the NHS, policing and improving schools. This is what ordinary people really care about.

Where Mr Corbyn represents a back-tothe-future 1970s agenda of punitive taxes, ruinous borrowing and national decline, Boris must offer confidence and hope.

But if he is to succeed in his mission, he has to carry his whole party with him. To paraphrase Lady Thatcher, he must speak the language of harmony – not division.

ARGUABLY the most pressing issue facing Britain is our crumbling social care system. We reveal today how women are bearing the brunt of the crisis, being twice as likely to be full-time unpaid carers, with often devastating effects on their mental and physical health. Successive governments have shunted this problem into the long grass. Do we finally have a Prime Minister with the courage to fix it?