Emergency Card scheme

Get an emergency card in case you – the carer – are in an emergency

Do you worry about getting caught up in an emergency? If you are looking after someone with a long term health problem or physical illness, what happens to them if something happens to you? The emergency card can give you peace of mind that the person you care for (a relative, friend or neighbour) will be looked after while you can’t.

You keep the bank card sized card on you at all times. Then, if you have an emergency, you or someone else calls the emergency number on your card, quotes a reference number (your unique ID) and Social Services will take care of the rest. Your three nominated people would be phoned by the council to step in. If there are higher care needs, the council provides care until the emergency has passed.

What The Carers Centre Tower Hamlets does:

We will join you up to the scheme

• If you haven’t got one, we do a Carer’s Assessment
• Then we make an emergency plan in up to two sessions which includes
  • Your name and contact details
  • The name and contact details of the person you care for
  • The name and contact details of three people who have agreed to be your nominated helpers in an emergency (including whether they hold keys to the home of the person you care for)
  • Any details Social Services or your nominated people may need to know about looking after the person you care for, such as
    • Where are the medicines kept?
    • Does the person speak English? Or take a long time to answer the door? Are there other communication problems?
• Everyone signs their agreement to their involvement and the form goes to Adult Social Services
• You might then be contacted by Social Services to discuss details of support your cared-for person would need
• That information goes into their confidential database and they give you a reference number
• Finally, The Carers Centre Tower Hamlets produces and supplies you with the card.