NLCT Services
Information
North Lanarkshire Carers Together are commissioned by Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire as the information and advice service for Carers in North Lanarkshire and we have a team of experienced Carer Information and Engagement workers who can provide carers with information in all aspects of the caring role including:
- Carer Rights
- Income Maximisation
- Education and Training
- Advocacy
- Health & Wellbeing
- Bereavement Support
- Emergency Care Planning
- Local Carer Support and Short Breaks
- Health & Social Care Services
Carer Representation & Campaigning
In line with our history and the reason why Carers Together began back in 2001, we continue to have a key role in ensuring carers have their voices heard and represented at local and national levels. We know that carers and those they care for must be at the heart of decisions that affect them as The Carers (Scotland) Act states that:
- Local Authorities and Health Board must involve carers in the planning of the services they provide.
- Local Authorities must involve carers in assessing their needs for support and providing that support and must take carers’ views into account in assessing the needs of the person being cared for.
Independent Carer Advocacy
North Lanarkshire Carers Together are commissioned to provide an independent advocacy service for carers aged 18 and over. Independent Advocacy is structurally, financially and psychologically separate from agencies providing services to the person and this is a service separate from our other carer campaigning, information and representation work. This ensures any possible conflicts of interest arising in relation to those other services are negated.
Independent Advocacy can be described as the following:
- Standing alongside people who are in danger of being pushed to the margins of society
- Standing up for and sticking with a person or group and taking their side
- A process of working towards natural justice
- Listening to someone and trying to understand their point of view
- Finding out what makes them feel good and valued
- Understanding their situation and what may be stopping them from getting what they want
- Offering the person support to tell other people what they want or introducing them to others who may be able to help
- Helping someone to know what choices they have and what the consequences of these choices might be
- Enabling a person to have control over their life but taking up issues on their behalf if they want you to
(Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, Independent Advocacy, Principles, Standards & Code of Best Practice, 2019)
Should you be a carer, or be working with or know a carer who requires some group or individual support to access their rights as a carer, please complete a referral form using the link below…
Referral Form
Once complete, please return it to one of the following:
Email: advocacy@carerstogether.org
Post: Advocacy Service
North Lanarkshire Carers Together
Forgewood Housing Cooperative Ltd
49 Dinmont Crescent
Motherwell ML1 3TT
We have also developed a local Carer Forum which offers the following:
- A platform which actively seeks the views of carers across North Lanarkshire on a range of topic areas that affect them and those they care for
- A networking opportunity to share information and experiences
- Opportunity to actively link carers and workers together to discuss and consult on policy, practice and service developments that impact on carers and those they care for
- Space to identify key issues for carers and develop a collective response to these issues
North Lanarkshire Carers Together adopts the Coalition of Carers ‘Equal and Expert 3 Best Practice Standards for Carer Engagement’. This underpins our approach to involving carers in this work. More information about this can be found here…
Carer Aware Training
The Carer Information and Engagement Team work to raise the profile of unpaid carers by regularly delivering our Carer Aware training sessions. This can be delivered to a wide range of groups, organisations and services including, social work area teams, health staff, students, teaching staff and volunteer groups.
Furthermore, with the implementation of new legislation to support unpaid carers (passed by Scottish Government in 2016) it is crucial that we work to inform our partners on the rights and duties outlined within the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016. Our training is underpinned by the Equal Partners in Care Model which highlights; ‘Carers are everyone’s business’. You can read more about this model and how we engage with carers by clicking here:
- Defining who is an unpaid carer and recognising the impact of the caring role
- Challenges and barriers faced by carers
- Rights and duties outlined in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016
- Partnership approaches to working with carers
If you would like to request a Carer Aware session for your team, group or volunteers, please click here.
Download a copy of new NLCT Service Leaflet
Our Mission Statement
The management board is responsible for keeping North Lanarkshire Carers Together focussed on its aims and objectives and for safeguarding its values and managing all aspects of its business.
Our Partners & Accreditations
