Motion: Unpaid Carers

This Council notes:

That 12,600 residents in the Fermanagh and Omagh district provide  vital unpaid care for family members, neighbours, and friends.

That over 47% of our district’s population lives in open countryside,  compounding rural isolation, transport barriers, and poor access to formal health and social care services.

That unpaid carers save the public purse billions yet face  disproportionate levels of poverty, loneliness, and poor physical and mental health due to a lack of local respite options.

That many carers remain "invisible" to local services, often only being  identified during times of acute crisis.

This Council acknowledges that:

Unpaid carers are the backbone of our local health ecosystem and  rural community resilience.

FODC is a leading employer, already implementing carer-friendly, flexible workplace policies for council employees who juggle their  work along with unpaid caring responsibilities.

This Council resolves:

To bring forward a report on how we can lobby the Western Health  and Social Care Trust and the rural GP networks for increased provision across our district, particularly our rural areas, and seek  clarity on how this will work to and if it will be supported through the Neighbourhood Health Model.

Also to bring back a report on FODC concession policy and compare it with other areas and to include how our community buildings and facilities can and do support carers and how this can be improved by connecting isolated carers with vital community networks, leisure services, and advice, to promote drop-in hubs (like those held at Fermanagh House) using council community centres and digital noticeboards.