Hansard

I thank all the members who signed the motion and those colleagues who have stayed behind in this final meeting of Parliament before the summer recess. The motion has attracted a great deal of support from across the political spectrum and it is fitting that the final word before the recess should be on the needs of carers.

When we set up the Parliament, we wanted it to change the lives of ordinary people. Much has been achieved in the past four years. In 1999, a carers strategy was published that identified priority areas for action, which included the introduction of legislation to allow carers' needs to be met; the promotion of new and flexible services including respite services; giving attention specifically to young carers; and the provision of better and more targeted information. No one can doubt that we have come a long way.

Six hundred thousand people in Scotland have caring responsibilities—some of them are in the chamber tonight—and around 116,000 people in Scotland care for someone on an unpaid basis for more than 50 hours a week. Those are the people whom we know about, but there are probably more who do not register in the statistics.

I will share with colleagues the story of Mary, who was the first ever constituent to come to one of my constituency surgeries. When she came in, she sat down and began to weep uncontrollably. She was an 84-year-old carer who was looking after her 45-year-old terminally ill son, who had Huntington's chorea. The week before, she had collapsed in the street with exhaustion and had been taken to hospital by ambulance. She discharged herself because she saw herself not as a carer, but as a mother—to her mind, looking after her son was her responsibility and there was no one else to do it.

Taking the first step to ask for help was very hard for Mary, but once she finally did it, she did not look back. We immediately arranged for Mary to receive help from day care respite services and help in the home—help to get her son ready for bed and to get him up in the mornings. A few weeks later, she came back to my surgery smiling. Regrettably, she died a year later: as with many carers, her own health suffered. However, she was supported in that last year of her life and respite care enabled her to keep her son at home for an extra year, which is what she wanted.

Respite care is a lifeline for carers, as it can provide an anchor to sanity and rest in what is too often the turmoil, pressure and stress of caring for a loved one. I guess that there are many official definitions of what a carer is, but I believe that a carer can be summarised as someone who puts their own life—or at least part of their life—on hold to allow someone else to live to the best of their ability.

From the perspective of a carer, respite services are a bit like a fairy godmother. Too often, however, respite care is seen as the Cinderella of the social services and it can be the first area to suffer. We are rightly proud of the home help service, but in local authorities in which the staff are multifunctional and provide both home help and respite care, the respite care service is often the first to suffer. Also, despite the efforts that are made, the simple truth is that not enough respite care is available. If there is one service that could allow families to cope for just a little bit longer—to prevent admissions to residential care and to help keep people in their homes—it is the respite care service. We must ensure that the money that is being invested in it translates into additional help and support for carers.

There is a group of carers who have for too long lived in the shadows: young carers. Too often, those young people take on heavy burdens of responsibility far beyond their years. Only a few years ago, it was not cool for a young person to tell anybody that they were a carer. Now, with support groups emerging throughout Scotland, young carers can share their thoughts and problems with other young people. In my constituency, there is a group of extraordinary young people who undertake daily caring tasks for brothers, sisters, mums, dads, grannies and grandpas. It is a humbling experience to talk with them and to listen to them. We must bring them out from the shadows and into the light; we must let them know how proud of them society is.

It would be remiss of me not to pay tribute to the professionals in social and health services and the care assistants throughout Scotland who, day in, day out, carry out their jobs of supporting carers not for financial remuneration—although they are paid for it—but out of dedication. Organisations such as the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, the Scottish Carers Alliance, Alzheimer Scotland and the Multiple Sclerosis Society provide much-needed information and support to people who choose to sacrifice and put the needs of others first.

Today, we have a Parliament and an Executive that will speak up for carers. As a society, we all have a responsibility to support the most vulnerable in our communities and we owe our great unsung heroes and heroines a debt. Supporting carers is not an optional extra: it should be an integral part of service delivery.

I commend the motion to the chamber and look forward to hearing the views of colleagues.