Coronavirus: Advice for carers of those with severe mental illness

Frequently asked questions

• I’m a carer for my relative. Can I still visit them to provide care?

  Yes, you can. The national lockdown rules allow you to visit members of your support bubble. Or provide care for vulnerable people, which includes people who need care because they live with a mental illness.

• Can I visit my relative in a care home or supported housing?

  Can I visit my relative in a care home?

  The government have said that care homes should allow residents to have visitors. As long as this is practically possible and safe for everyone.

  When considering visiting arrangements, care homes must find the right balance between:

  • the benefits to residents’ wellbeing and quality of life, and
  • the risk of catching Covid-19 to everyone involved.

  The government have published guidance on care homes and visiting arrangements. See the section ‘Arrangements for the visit itself’ for more details on visiting your relative and what is involved.

  Every care home is different. You can contact your relative’s home to ask what the visiting arrangements are.

  Can I visit my relative in supported housing?

  The government haven’t published specific guidance on visiting relatives who are in supported housing.

  The guidance for visiting relatives in care homes doesn’t apply to supported housing. But you might be able to visit your relative in supported housing if, for example:

  • you were delivering food to your relative, or
  • you were providing care and assistance to your relative.

  But all your relative’s caring needs might be provided for at the supported housing facility. If that’s the case, you might not be able to visit to care for them.

  You can contact staff at your relative’s supporting housing facility to ask about visiting arrangements.

• My relative has formed a support bubble with me and my household. What does this mean?

  If your relative lives on their own, they can join another household to form a support bubble. This must be exclusive. This means that once they have decided who is in their support bubble, they cannot change this.

  Once you are in a support bubble you are classed as one household. This means that you can visit each other, stay overnight and visit outdoor public places together.

• I don’t live with my relative. And I’m not in their support bubble. Can I still meet them outside for exercise?

  Yes, you can still meet them outside for walks or exercise if:

  • they are in your support bubble, or
  • just you and your relative meet.

  Outdoor public places where you can meet your relative include:

  • Neighbourhood streets,
  • parks, beaches, countryside,
  • public gardens,
  • allotments, and
  • playgrounds

  The rules say you can’t meet people who aren’t from your household or bubble in a private garden. But if you are visiting your relative to care for them, you can go in the garden with them.

• My relative wants to meet a friend for a walk outside. They aren’t part of my relative’s household or their social bubble. Can I go with them?

  The rules say that if you want to go meet someone outside who isn’t in your household or social bubble, then you can only meet 1 other person.

  But if your relative needs ‘continuous care’ from you, then you can be with them whilst they meet someone else. The government haven’t said what they mean by the term ‘continuous care.’ But we think that it would be reasonable to argue that someone needs ‘continuous care’ if they need it daily, or even less frequently, as long it’s regular. We will be raising this with the Department of Health and Social Care.
  
  So, we believe that if your relative can’t go for walks or exercise without you then you would be OK to take them to meet a friend for a walk.

  Your relative might want to go outside with members of their household or support bubble but need you to be there. This is also allowed, but again only if they need ‘continuous care’.

• I’m over 60 or am clinically vulnerable. Does this affect how I can care for my relative?

  If you, or your relative, are over 60 or are clinically vulnerable, you could be at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus. So, you need to make sure that you carefully follow the rules. And minimise your contact with other people as much as possible. You can find details of people who are classed as clinically vulnerable in this webpage.

  Make sure that you wash your hands carefully and more often than normal. And make sure that you thoroughly clean frequently touched areas in your own home and that of your relative.

  It may help you to think about other people who can support you in providing care to your relative, so that you can minimise your contact. And it may help to think about what might happen to your relative if you become unwell.

• How can I plan in case I can’t see my relative face-to-face?

  You can write a contingency plan. The plan will say what happens if you can’t have face-to-face contact with your relative. It is better to plan now rather than to wait for something to happen. Having the plan in place might make you, and your relative, less anxious.

  You can read our information on ‘Planning for the future: Your relative’s care and support’ by clicking here. 

  But please note some of your and your relative’s rights about social care have changed. This is because of emergency coronavirus legislation. You can read more here. 

  Also, you can get information on writing a contingency plan by clicking here.

  But again, please note some of you and your relative’s rights about social care have changed.

• My relative is supported by an NHS mental health team. What can I do?

  Your relative might be supported by an NHS mental health team. If they are, you can contact them to ask what support they will give your relative if you can’t see them face-to-face.

  If your relative has a care co-ordinator, contact them. They have overall responsibility for your relative’s care. If your relative has no care co-ordinator, you can contact the person they normally deal with.

  But it might be difficult for your relative’s mental health team to provide your relative with their normal level of support. This is because of the effect of coronavirus and how the virus impacts on staffing levels. But the team can tell you what support they can give to your relative.

• What can I do to make sure my relative’s care plan is suitable?

  If your relative is supported by an NHS mental health team, they should have a written care plan in place. The plan should say what support and treatment they should be getting to meet their needs.

  If they don’t have a care plan, you can ask their mental health team to contact your relative and assess their needs. They might need to do this by phone, because of coronavirus restrictions.

  If your relative has a plan, but you don’t have copy, you or your relative can contact their mental health team to ask for one.

  You can check to see if your relative’s care plan meets their needs. You or your relative can contact their mental health team and ask for their plan to be reassessed if:

  • it doesn’t meet their current needs, or
  • their needs have changed because you can’t see your relative face-to-face.

  But it might be difficult for your relative’s mental health team to provide your relative with their normal level of support. This is because of the effect of coronavirus and how the virus impacts on staffing levels. But the team can tell you what support they can give to your relative.

• What can I do if I need to get information from my relative’s mental health team or social services?

  If you can’t see your relative face-to-face, you might want to get information about them from professionals who support them like:

  • their mental health team, or
  • social services.

  Professionals can’t usually share confidential information about your relative with you, unless your relative agrees. You can read more about this in our information on ‘Confidentiality and information sharing: For carers, friends and family’ by clicking here.

  You and your relative can take steps so professionals can share information with you. Please see the section called ‘What arrangements can I make for the future?’ in the above link.

  You will see your relative can sign a consent form to allow you to get information from professionals. You can use our specimen consent form. Go to the top of the link and you will see that you can download a copy of our factsheet. The specimen consent form is towards the end of the factsheet.

• I can’t see my relative face-to-face. Who can care for my relative?

  You can ask another relative, a friend or a neighbour of yours or your relative to help them.

  If you are in a carers group, you can ask another member of the group to help. Maybe group members can agree to help each other until the coronavirus situation improves.

  If there is no-one to support your relative, social services should help.

  A lot of local support groups are being set up to help people affected by the virus. These groups can’t meet face-to-face at the moment. But groups can use things like Facebook and WhatsApp, so members can contact each other.

  You can go online and search for support groups in your local area. Or contact one of your local councillors and ask if they know of any groups. You can find details of your local councillors by clicking here. 

  Support groups may be able to help with things like shopping, collecting prescriptions and providing phone calls to stop you, or your relative, feeling isolated.

• My relative goes to a support group for people with severe mental illnesses. Are these groups allowed to still meet?

  Yes. If it is essential that the group meets face to face, then they are allowed to meet up. The group has to be formally organised and can’t have more than 15 people attend.

  Many of these groups may still be meeting online using things like Zoom. If you are unsure what is happening with your relative’s group, then you can contact the group administrator to get more information.

  Rethink Mental Illness runs a lot of support groups across England. You can find details here. 

  Some of our groups have resumed some of their activities. But these are still restricted and differ from group to group.

  Please contact individual groups for further information.

• What are NHS Volunteer responders?

  NHS Volunteer Responders are there to help vulnerable people who are self-isolating during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a severe mental illness, this includes you.

  If you have no-one else to collect shopping or a prescription for you, they can help. They’re there if you need a friendly chat too.

  To get help from them you need to call them on:

  • 0808 196 3646 (8am to 8pm).

  Read more about NHS Volunteer Responders.

• I live with the person I care for. What might happen if I become unwell with the coronavirus?

  The government have issued advice about what you should do if the person you live with is showing symptoms of coronavirus. You can find these here. 

  It may help to think about an action plan now, in case you become unwell. The government suggest that, if possible, you arrange to move any vulnerable individuals out of your home if you have coronavirus symptoms. Maybe they could stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.

  You can also talk to your relative’s care team to see if they can suggest anything. Or provide more support whilst you are unwell.

• My relative or I currently have support from social services. What can I do?

  Your relative might get social care from social services. Or they might support you as a carer. Or both of these things might apply.

  Care plans should meet your relatives needs or your needs as a carer. Their needs might change if you can’t see your relative face-to-face. If this happens get in touch with social services. They usually have to reassess care plans if the needs of the person change.

  But please note some of your and your relative’s rights about social care have changed. This is because of emergency coronavirus legislation.

• We currently have no support from social services. How can we get it?

  Some of your and your relative’s rights about social care have changed. This is because of emergency coronavirus legislation. 

  Because of the situation with coronavirus, social services might not be able to provide the same level of care as they normally do. But they still should support people with the greatest need.

  Get in touch with your local social services if:

  • your relative needs social care support, or
  • you need support as a carer.

  Social care support means your relative getting help with things like:

  • getting out of their home to exercise,
  • cleaning their home,
  • preparing meals or going shopping,
  • keeping safe, or
  • managing their money.

  If your relative needs urgent social care support, tell social services this. They should be able to arrange urgent support for your relative.

• Where can I get advice about local social care and other support for my relative?

  Your local social services can provide you with information on local social care and other support for your relative. So, you can contact them.

  You can get advice from a local carers service. You can search form them by clicking here. Local carers services might be able to offer support too.

• I can’t see my relative face-to-face. How can I stay in touch with them?

  As well as calling your relative you can stay in touch with them in other ways such as text message, Skype, WhatsApp or social media, for example.

  You could contact them and work together on a plan for the day for them. Once you’ve done this, you can message them the plan, so they have it in writing.

  You could call them or message them with reminders. So, you could remind them about things like taking their medication, going to appointments or having meals.

• What if I am a working carer or claim carer’s allowance?

  There have been some changes to carer’s allowance to make things easier during the coronavirus crisis. Our Mental Health and Money Advice team have produced information about the changes. They have also provided information about working carers.

  You can read more about these things at the Mental Health and Money Advice website. Please see the sections headed, ‘What if I’m a carer?’ and ‘What if I’m a working carer?’