Any help out there?

Dear Marysgirl, your general practitioner is a good place to start in trying to get support, he will have all the local contacts and will be able to refer you to services where appropriate. It’s important to get your mum on the radar so that everyone is aware of your situation. There is also carers uk which has a website and phone line and you may find them a useful source of information. Also you may want to join the carers only group, they are very supportive and have lots of experience of caring for their family members. I hope your mum is doing ok, having a operation for a brain tumour would be hard for anyone of any age, but I’m sure it has been very stressful for you all, and you deserve as much support as you can get.

best wishes jane

Thank you so much for replying. I’ll give your suggestions a try. Amanda x

Hi Amanda

Welcome to the online community and I'm sorry to hear about your mum, working full time and looking after both parents is very stressful, tiring and exhausting and yes there is help available and as  suggests the GP is a good place to start as he has overall charge of your parents well being and should be able to come up with some solutions.

You don't need to have a GP referral to ask for Needs Assessment for your mum, all you need to do is contact your local County Council Adult Social Care Team for an assessment and a social worker will call any investigate all the problems that are causing concern and make suggestions.

It is your mums right to have this assessment and is provided free, it will highlight the help that is needed and with her agreement implement a care plan for her

At the same time you should request a Needs Assessment   - Carers for you dad as he is also in need of an assessment and care plan.

Social care support guide

You have a massive load on your shoulders with a full time job, looking after your parents and possibly trying to run your own home and you must look after yourself very carefully to make sure you don't get over tired and exhausted resulting in you not being able to do everything effectively, I know it's not easy but try and have some ME time every so often to recharge your batteries.

Over in the Carers only forum group you can meet others in a similar position to yourself and the members will willingly share their experiences with you and I look forward to seeing you over there.

If you want to speak to a real person you can speak to one of our friendly members of the telephone support team who can give you lots of advice and possibly put you on to one of the financial experts who can give you more information. They can be contacted on 0808 808 0000 seven days a week between 8 AM and 8 PM.

Hopefully you will get some help soon and dad and yourself can have some respite.

Ian 

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Sorry Amanda I should have included this information which might give your dad some respite during the day

AgeUK befriending service

AgeUK have 2 levels of befriending service in some areas

Telephone befriending where one of their volunteers telephones and has a chat.

Face to face befriending where a volunteer visits the home and spends time with your mum and allows your dad to have a rest, in some areas they can also take mum and dad out and accompany them to doctors or hospital appointments. 

I hope this little bit of information will let you know that help is available for your mum and dad.

Ian

By clicking on the green text above will open up a new page for you.