A FINANCE worker has had to quit his job to care for his young brother who needs round-the-clock care – one of many people in Camden whose lives are put on hold while looking after relatives at home.

Benjamin Tesfay said the council approved 25 hours a week of care for his brother, but he has been waiting more than a year for payments to come through. The council said the hours have not been agreed yet.

His 27-year-old brother has autism, epilepsy and other mental health problems that means he is unable to live independently.

“We lost our mum during Covid and it was incredibly difficult – the responsibilities came on me,” Mr Tesfay said.

“There’s a huge population in Camden that just gave up on the system and they’re just like, ‘You know what, we’ll just have to do it ourselves’. It shouldn’t be like that. It’s not sustainable.

“People don’t know how much carers go through in this country until you’re actually in that position. Then you start to realise ‘this is a lot of work’. And we don’t even get paid. I’m getting grey hairs.”

He first applied to Cam- den for funding in 2022, but the process has been painstaking with the Town Hall very slow to agree the 25 hours a week care his brother needs.

“We are now in January 2024 and not one penny has been paid for care for him,” said Mr Tesfay.

“There’s been no budget. There’s been no continuation from our previous borough [Haringey] where we were. Their excuse for why they haven’t paid is because they use a third party, People Plus, to administer direct payments.”

Mr Tesfay said People Plus had told him he was one of a “queue of people” waiting to get direct payments.

Mr Tesfay is in a Whats App group with 22 other Camden families experiencing the same problems. He said some of the families had resorted to spending thousands of pounds on lawyers, adding: “I’m in this group and most of them are maybe Bangladeshi, perhaps Asian, African, black, Caribbean, and their story is something totally different. They are just heartbreaking stories.

“Today’s been a really tough day. My kid has been trying to fight me. We’re in A&E today. We just can’t do it. He didn’t want to take his meds.”

Mr Tesfay gets a carer’s allowance of £67 a week. A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing high quality care sup- port in the community for residents who need it in Camden.

“We enable residents and their carers to make choices about how they receive this support, together with clear recommendations from the council. Working through this process can be complex and it can take a long time before all parties agree to a care arrangement.

“In this instance we are continuing to talk to both the resident and his broth- er who is his main carer about what is needed. We are committed to working with them to resolve issues and agree a way forward.”

People Plus was contacted for comment.