A TROWBRIDGE mum, who balances work with being a fulltime carer to her 15-year-old daughter, wants more companies to adopt a policy to allow people to have flexible hours when there is an emergency at home.

As part of Carers Week, new figures released show two-thirds of carers have given up work or reduced their hours to care for their loved ones.

Jo Vidler, of Yeoman Way, is one mum who has been fortunate enough to work for Nutricia, who have a carers policy in place to allow her to leave work at the drop of a hat to urgently care for her daughter, Liv.

Mrs Vidler’s daughter Liv has suffers hypoadrenalism – a condition where she does not produce enough cortisol, which can leave her in excruciating pain and unable to see.

Mrs Vidler, The 39-year-old, said: “It all started when I came home from work three years ago and Liv said she had stomach pains. It was quite unusual for her to complain and we were sent to Bath because doctors thought she had an appendicitis. They took it out but the wound didn’t heal. She kept having to have tests done because they couldn’t understand why she kept getting the stomach pains, and at one stage they thought Liv must be making it up.

“If she didn’t continue to have tests done when she did, it could have been fatal.”

Complications of the condition include loss of feeling in joints and loss of peripheral vision.

Mrs Vidler, who has worked at Nutricia for 10 years, said without the carer’s policy in place, she might have been forced to give up work – a prospect which the mum-of-two said would have put a strain on the family’s quality of life.

She added: “I know for a fact that although this has all happened, I consider our family to be lucky because I am allowed time off from work and have flexible hours. It could be worse if I had to give up work.

“When you look at it, what Nutricia are doing for me isn’t a massive stretch and it doesn’t cause any dent to the company. We have a system in place so that people know what I’m doing so if I have to drop everything and go, they can pick it up.

“The policy is a two-way street and it is not like they are letting me have time off to do whatever, but they have been good to me and I pay that back in my job.”

Liv, who is currently doing her GCSEs at John of Gaunt, said without the support of her mum, she doesn’t know how she would have been able to get through the last couple of years.

She added: “People don’t realise but it is an invisible illness and some aren’t aware of the amount of care people give to people diagnosed.”

Carers Week runs from June 6-12.