UNPAID carers across Gwent have said they are concerned after learning that vital support allowing them to look after vulnerable people and their own wellbeing is to be cut.

Councils in Gwent have reportedly indicated they plan to ask families to take on additional caring tasks because of challenges in the availability of social care workforce.

Swansea Council and Swansea Bay University Health Board made a similar announcement a fortnight ago.

Carers Wales has said many unpaid carers are already under severe pressure as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many left caring for longer with already reduced support. The organisation, which supports and campaigns in the interests of carers in Wales, has hit out over a lack of clarity around which areas unpaid carers are expected to cover, and timelines for when services will be resumed, and is calling on local authorities in Wales to clearly define these issues.

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Carers Wales also wants councils and Welsh Government to explore solutions to lessen the additional burden on carers, including a fast-tracked direct payments system for carers so they can arrange support separately.

Jake Smith, Carers Wales policy officer said: “It is deeply concerning that exhausted unpaid carers in Gwent are being asked to take on yet more caring duties in light of social care reductions, especially as Gwent is not the first area to propose this recently.

"Whilst we appreciate there are real challenges in the social care workforce, placing additional burdens on already worn-down unsupported unpaid carers risks their ability to continue caring and ultimately could place further strain on the NHS and councils.

"Councils needs to be upfront and clear with carers about the changes they are proposing and must set out when they expect services levels to be recovered. To prevent challenges in social care turning into a wider crisis for unpaid carers, the Welsh Government must step in and expedite its plans to recover capacity in health and social care."

In research taken out by the organisation, Carers Wales found that 72 per cent of surveyed unpaid carers in Wales haven’t been able to take any breaks from their caring role since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than three quarters said they are exhausted from the additional burden and two in five family carers say they can’t manage their caring role.

The organisation say that while unpaid carers saved Wales £33 million every day during the height of the pandemic, it is "deeply unfair to request unpaid carers shoulder the burden of challenges in the social care workforce".

The Welsh Government has announced plans to recover capacity in the health and social care system as Wales recovers from the pandemic - and Carers Wales has called for these changes to be brought forward to avoid a crisis in unpaid caring.

Nick Wood, executive director of primary, community and mental health services at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: “We are working with our partners in social care to explore every opportunity to support local people with their ongoing care needs, either in their own homes or through the significant network of service providers in the area.

“We recognise the huge challenges at this time with the availability of domiciliary care staff and the increased demand for care and support, and we would encourage all communities to work with us and the community services teams.

“Services are under intense pressure and this is likely to continue for the short to medium term as we work with social care partners to increase capacity in the community and enable changes to the way in which services are delivered as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Additional reporting by Rhiannon James