Who are you?
I'm Katie Davey, Action for Carers Surrey hospital carer support advisor at East Surrey Hospital.
Summarise your role.
My role is to ensure unpaid carers, who can be a patient's friend, neighbour or relative receives all the support available to them, while the patient is in hospital. To do this, I:
- Provide one-to-one support, information and advice
- Bridge any communication gaps between the carer and hospital staff
- Ensure they have access to carers’ passports
- Support carers through the discharge process, which can be complex
- Ensure the carer is receiving all relevant benefits or reductions
- Refer them to other services, such as Action for Carers Surrey's moving and handling team, Crossroads Care and adult social care
- Signpost carers on to Action for Carer's carer hubs (drop-in locations) that offer advice, guidance and free wellbeing and information events
- Providing advice and carer-awareness training to staff.
What do you find rewarding about your role?
It’s very rewarding when you can make sure a carer has all the support in place for the person they care for, that it will make their life just a little bit easier, and you know that the carer feels supported and listened to themselves. My role can make a real difference.
What do you find challenging?
The challenge is to ensure unpaid carers are identified early on and referred quickly to sash.carerssupport@nhs.net to ensure they get the right support through the discharge or palliative care process and beyond.
What do you enjoy outside of work?
We are a very outdoor family. We love dog walks, horse riding and motorsport.