British Gas and Surrey County Council were the first organisations to sign up to Charity Carers UK’s app Jointly, which launched in January.
Jointly – available for mobile phones, tablets and computers – offers a simple, practical way to share information and co-ordinate tasks amongst an invited circle who are helping look after a loved one.
Jointly can be purchased individually or offered to carers for free by forward thinking employers and service providers.
British Gas was the first employer to sign up to Jointly and make it available to its employees. Surrey County Council was the first local authority to introduce the app.
Care for an ageing population and for those with illness or disability is a growing issue for society and business. In the UK, there are 6.5 million carers – half juggling care with work, a third caring for older relatives alongside raising children.
Both Surrey County Council and British Gas are members of Carers UK’s business forum, Employers for Carers. There are more than 100,000 carers in Surrey and the authority is rolling out the app to thousands of people so they can keep friends and relatives in the loop about who is doing what and when to support a loved one.
Mel Few, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said the council was always willing to embrace innovation.
“Jointly takes a lot of the stress out of sharing that care by making it a lot more organised, giving family members peace of mind and those being cared for a better quality of life.”
The Jointly app offers:
- private and secure group messaging to keep everyone informed and better connected
- profile and contacts pages, with easily accessible vital information such as medication lists and
- shared calendar and task lists to coordinate responsibilities, organise what needs to get done and store important information.
More information can be found at www.carersuk.org/jointly.
