Carers newsletter - edition no.16
Welcome to the latest edition of our carers newsletter, providing carers and relatives with information on the support available within the Trust and the county.
Carer updates
Carer Passports
We have developed a carer passport to help support and inform carers of those accessing LPFT services.
For more information email lpft.
Carers Lanyard and ID cards
To accompany our carers passport we now also have lanyards and carer ID cards that you can use when visiting your loved ones and liaising with staff.
If you would like one of these please email our carers inbox above.
Carer Champions in acute services
We are delighted to share with you that we now have four carer champions in acute services at LPFT. These carer champions are dedicated to supporting carers of patients across our acute wards of Connolly Ward, Charlesworth Ward, Ash Villa and Ward 12.
New Carer Team
Donna Bradford, Head of Carer and Relative Experience and Volunteers now has a new team supporting her. Carmen Ramos Gomez is our new Corporate Carer and Volunteer Lead, Rachael Lambert is our Corporate Care Practitioner and Vanessa Herdzina is the new Experience of Care Administrator, supporting Donna and Kay Gamble.
Support and advice
Advice for carers
We have a dedicated carers email address which you can email any questions, queries or concerns to. Please email us at lpft.
Lincolnshire County Council - general support for carers
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) has a general advice page for carers which has information on a range of topics, including benefits and entitlements, emergency care planning and carers assessments.
More information can be found online at www.
North East Lincolnshire
There is now a single point of access (SPA) in North East Lincolnshire, which includes Young Minds Matter.
You can call NAViGO on 01472 256256, option 3 for 24/7 mental health support in North East Lincolnshire. For young people’s mental health support, call Young Minds Matter 01472 626100 (for out of hours support you can also call 01472 256256 option 3).
North East Lincolnshire - Young Carers Assessment
The link below gives outline information for young carers and adult carers in the north east Lincolnshire area. It also contains a telephone number to enable people to contact the Carers Team and request an assessment.
Information for The Young Carers Team can found on the web page below.
Older Adults
Older Adults & Frailty Divisional Support
If you would like information, support or advice about your caring role, please contact our Senior Clinical Carer lead for Older People and Frailty at lpft.
Visiting on the wards changes regularly as COVID safety guidelines are amended by the Trust. Please speak to the ward staff before planning a visit. If you are caring for someone in our Older Adults Inpatient Services and would like to send messages, letters or photographs, these can also be sent to lpft.oacarers@nhs.net and we will ensure they are printed and given to your loved one.
LPFT Dementia Support Service
If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, our Dementia Support Service can offer you information and guidance on how to live as well as possible with the diagnosis. We can provide information and guidance relating to the diagnosis, as well as supporting carers/ loved ones with how they can support the person living with the diagnosis as well as maintain their own wellbeing.
If you would like more information about the service, email lpft.dementiasupportservice@nhs.net or call our Single Point of Access Contact Centre on 0303 123 4000 where you will be put through to the relevant team.
Below are a list of other contacts which you may find useful in supporting you with your caring role.
Age UK
Providing support for older people and their carers, inc. regular telephone friendship service.
Advice Line Tel: 0800 678 1602
Web: www.ageuk.org.uk
Alzheimer’s Society
Providing support for people with dementia and their carers.
Tel: 01522 692681 or the Dementia Connect Support Line 0333 150 3456
Email: lincoln
Dementia UK
Providing support for people with dementia and their carers.
Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline Tel: 0800 888 6678
Web: www.dementiauk.org
Young carers and adult carers
Young carers
Often, young carers supporting someone with poor mental health are not recognised as such, yet trying to help someone who may be really distressed can be one of the hardest things to do. Young carers may be offering compassion, empathy and encouragement to parents struggling with their mental health by talking to them, listening and trying to understand their problems. Often, young carers worry about the person they care for while they are at school, making it hard to concentrate. They may be unable to spend time with friends and feel lonely and isolated. Young carers supporting someone with poor mental health are not as readily identified as those young people who carry out more practical care.
Contact youngcarers
Here4You advice line for children, young people, parents and carers
Lincolnshire children, young people, parents and carers can contact the Here4You advice line for mental health and emotional wellbeing problems on 0800 234 6342 (24/7). More information can also be found at www.
Carers support for adult carers
If you are aged 18+ and support a relative or friend with tasks such as washing and dressing, paying bills, transport, emotional support, health appointments, medication and domestic tasks, you can get help with your caring responsibilities. This can be accessed by arranging an initial conversation with the Lincolnshire Carers Service.
The team will discuss your caring role and any problems you are experiencing and then work with you to find solutions. There is a huge range of support that is available to unpaid carers within the county including information and advice, benefits support, regular newsletter and updates about events happening in the community, a Carers Emergency Response Plan (CERS). If the team are unable to resolve a problem during our initial conversation then a statutory Carers Assessment may be considered if your needs are complex and require more specialist and on-going support.
If you have not already accessed support in your caring role and would like to, you can contact lpft.carers@nhs.net for more information.
If you would like to complete the referral yourself you can contact Lincolnshire County Council Carers Team 01522 782224 or visit https://
Find more information at
A carers story
We were a happy family despite both of my sons being diagnosed with autism whilst at school.
They both did ok at school and we used to go on family holidays, have friends round to our house for social events and did normal family things.
When my eldest son was ten he started playing football with a team and loved it. At age 15, one of his teammates pushed him over at a game, resulting in him increasing his weight training to become bigger in stature and believing it would make him taller than his 5 foot 8 height.
He also started getting anxiety and panic attacks, being sick before school every day.
Around this time my mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She lived alone which meant I was spending a lot of time at her home looking after her. I believe due to this I didn’t realise how much my son was actually struggling and deteriorating.
I went to the GP and persuaded them to put in a referral to CAMHS, which I wrote myself. He was seen for a few weeks but this quickly stopped as they believed his symptoms were down to his autism and in 2016 he was discharged as they said he no longer needed the service.
I had already had a carers assessment for my mum some time before when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and I had a yearly review this time by Carers First and my needs had changed as I was now not only caring for my mum but I had become a carer for my son as well.
During the review I was told about the Carers Education and Support Group at Discovery House which was every other Thursday evening in the café.
This was a life changing event for me. I didn’t feel so alone in what was going on for my son and our family. I learnt so much about different services, illnesses, medication and I also met some new friends.
We managed to get professionals involved but again they only saw his autism. The large number of professionals we had involved slowly started to dwindle away until again my son was left with barely any support.
I felt out of my depth in how to deal with him and it eventually ended up in a crisis admission to hospital.
He lives in Residential Care now.
Every day is still a battle. Staff continue to see his autism and not his mental illness.
My son was a friendly albeit a quiet boy but he had enjoyed his childhood, family holidays and had interacted with others in his football teams.
He now stays in his room isolating himself as he struggles around people bigger than him and he only goes out twice a week to visit us at home.
I am a realist and I know that he may never get back to the way he was. But I do believe he can be better than he is now.
The trauma continues even though he has not lived with us for some time. He is my son and I only want the best for him. I am passionate about all carers receiving the support that I have through LPFT and I now have active participation in the hope I can push the carers agenda and ensure that all carers get the help they so desperately need.
Spotlight on...
Rachael Lambert
I have been a qualified mental health nurse for 11 years and worked for most of that time in several different roles within LPFT across CAMHS, learning disabilities, adult community and acute care.
I currently work 10 hours a week with Donna and the carers team, a role which I am passionate about doing well - both for the carers we support, as well as the impact our role has on their ability to care.
I first came in to contact with the work being done by Donna several years ago when I was working as the discharge liaison practitioner for the community mental health teams. The wife of one of the patients I was working with was having a particularly distressing time dealing with her husband’s mental health struggles and acute admission. I spoke with Donna who came out to meet with her and I was blown away by the care, compassion and time she was able to give and the incredible difference it made to the couple. I like to think that I have always considered the needs of families and carers in working with our patients, but that case in particular was eye opening for me in understanding the detrimental impact of not properly listening to or supporting our carers on a patient’s recovery.
I feel strongly that the resources Donna has been able to create are hugely beneficial and I’m excited and privileged to be a part of developing further on the strong foundations she and the carers have created over the past few years. Carers are now not only heard within LPFT but are actively involved in decision making and shaping the future of services through the Carers Council. Support for carers has been created on an understanding that empowerment comes through education. So often we, as mental health professionals, are asking family to care for those they love with little or no understanding of the complex issues that they are struggling with. By finding ways to upskill carers, as well as helping them understand that self-care is a vital, not selfish, part of their role, I see the massive difference that makes in terms of positive outcomes in the care and treatment of the patients we work with.
Carer support services
LPFT Carers WhatsApp Support Groups
PFT has a Carers WhatsApp Support Group, which is a supportive group that enables carers to share information and advice with one another and acts as a sounding board. It is a closed group and is a safe space to share, ask for advice and chat in general. If you would like to join our support group then please email lpft.
Recovery College courses
Lincolnshire Recovery College offers free educational courses on mental health and wellbeing, and is open to everyone (including carers) aged sixteen and above. The courses are designed and delivered by people with lived experience of mental ill health, qualified trainers and health professionals. The College offers carer specific courses such as one on compassion fatigue and more are being developed with carers needs in mind.
Visit www.
Veterans support in Lincolnshire
Have you or your loved one served in the British Armed Forces? If so, you might benefit from a chat with the Specialist Veterans Service to improve your knowledge of the support available. It might be that the support you receive for your mental health can be enhanced via referral to Operation Courage.
Contact our services on 01522 307577
East Midlands Operation Courage Tel: 0300 323 0137 or email mevs.
Emotional support line: 0300 323 0139
Help for carers and relatives
Single Point of Access (SPA): 0303 123 4000
Mental Health Helpline: 0800 001 4331 (24/7)
Samaritans: 0330 094 5717
Lincolnshire Carers Service: 01522 782224 Email: carersservice
Healthwatch: 01205 820892 / Email: info
Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) ULHT: Lincoln County Hospital 01522 707071 ;
Grantham 01476 464861 ; Boston Pilgrim 01205 446243 / Email: pals
Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) LCHS: 0300 123 9553 / Email: LHNT. LincsPALS@nhs.net
LPFT Carers Education and Support Group
Do you care for a family member?
Do you need support and education?
Join our established group, online every other Thursday evening!
For further information on how to join, please email donna.
