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Unpaid BME carers still face 'disproportionate barriers to accessing support', research finds
A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London
CARERS in Scotland have warned that “the time for excuses is over” after new research found that unpaid black and minority ethnic (BME) carers still face the same “disproportionate barriers to accessing support” as they did nearly two decades ago.
According to the study from the Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project (MECOPP), Oxfam Scotland and Heriot-Watt University, nearly two-thirds of unpaid BME carers say their role causes financial hardship, forcing 52 per cent to cut spending on food and household utility bills.
The report — titled Where Are We Now? — says that carer’s allowance and other benefits “are often insufficient or difficult to access, adding stress,” while nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (74 per cent) said they had no time to look after themselves properly.
Half reported physical health problems and 40 per cent mental health conditions such as stress or depression, while 70 per cent said they felt lonely “sometimes or always.”
The study says that BME carers “face unique difficulties in accessing support,” such as language and cultural heritage where “caregiving is viewed as a natural family duty” — problems that have remained unchanged since a Scottish government report identified them back in 2006.
MECOPP chief executive Margaret Chiwanza said: “This report is a wake-up call that can’t be ignored.
“The Scottish government has known about these problems for nearly 20 years, but little has changed.
“The same barriers are still there: services that don’t understand different cultures, information people can’t access and policies that haven’t delivered.
“BME carers deserve to be seen, heard and properly supported and not face more decades of delay.
“This is about fairness and the time for excuses is over.”
Oxfam Scotland’s Jamie Livingstone said carers were “exhausted, isolated and being failed by a system that should be there to help."
He said: “Politicians must stop paying lip service to inclusion and start delivering the real change BME unpaid carers in Scotland have already waited far too long for.”
SNP Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville responded: “We work closely with the charity MECOPP and are already acting to address issues raised in their report.
“We know there are groups of people, including ethnic minority carers, who continue to face additional barriers to accessing support they are entitled to.
"We work with partners trusted by BME communities to ensure our information can reach a wide range of people.”
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