It’s 60 years since Carers UK was founded. Since then, it has grown to become a powerful voice campaigning for greater recognition, rights and support for unpaid carers, setting up national teams in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Last night the Scottish parliament hosted a reception to celebrate the work of Carers Scotland, and to hear from the organisation and some of the unpaid carers who shape its work.

healthandcare.scot caught up with the new director of Carers Scotland Kirsten Hogg, and asked her for her first impressions.

“It feels like there's a great deal of understanding of carers’ issues, a lot of words of support from politicians, but, as in so many areas of policy across Scotland, a bit of an implementation gap between the legislative and policy intent and whether that makes enough of a difference for carers on the ground.”

Kirsten had previously been head of policy and research at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, having come from a background working with organisations for disabled people and children. Now, in her first role working directly for carers, she will also cover Wales and Northern Ireland.

“There are a lot of similarities between the work that I did in terms of that implementation gap, how in Scotland we're terrific at writing a strategy and even a bit of legislation, but the work is not done until that's actually making a difference – be it to members of SCVO, and now to carers.

“At Carers’ Scotland it has been very interesting to come into an environment where, instead of just talking about the funding situation, I'm living it.

“The insecurity of single year funding is writ large for all organisations operating in this space, and that makes it very difficult to plan and to progress your agenda, because you don't know what money you’ll have next year. So I suppose I was well prepared for that.

“I have spent five weeks learning, predominantly from talking to carers, talking to people about their experiences and trying to understand those experiences – and I am going to continue those conversations and try to build that understanding.”

Kirsten says, as the charity marks 60 years, there are things to celebrate:

“This very week, we should celebrate the UK government response to the overpayments scandal.”

On Tuesday, the UK government accepted the findings of the independent review of the process of clawing back Carer’s Allowance overpayments.

This was followed in yesterday’s budget by the Chancellor announcing £75m over the next three years to implement the review’s recommendations.

“And that's just one example of the work that Carers UK has done,” says Kirsten, “where we've taken an issue and we've really championed it for many years. That’s some 10 years’ worth of campaigning, which in the budget saw significant amounts of money put behind that. Not just warm words but real money to fix it.

“We need to celebrate the longevity of organisations because for none of the issues that we're working on is there a silver bullet or a magic wand or quick fix.

“We have to be consistently around the table, saying the same things, making the same cases, so that we can make those system changes and cultural changes that will make things better for carers. Single year funding undermines your ability to keep doing that.”

As Carers UK celebrates 60 years, healthandcare.scot asked Kirsten if she felt there will always be a need for an organisation like Carers Scotland into the future.

“You would hope not, because you would hope that there would be a world in which carers were really valued in the way that the warm words suggest, and that they could live happy and healthy lives alongside their caring responsibilities.

“In the current financial and political climate, I suspect there probably will always be a need.”

Read more: The cost of caring: spending less on heat and food; Politicians told: “Carers cannot wait”; Reform falls short of rhetoric for Scotland’s carers;

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