New NHS figures reveal an increase in adult carers feeling stressed or depressed

Revealed by NHS Digital, just over 60 percent of carers reported feeling stressed in 2018-19 (compared to 58.7 percent in 2016-17), while the number of carers who reported feeling depressed increased from 43.4 percent in 2016-173 to 45.1 percent in 2018-19.

That’s according to the results of a recent survey of 50,800 adult carers in England published by NHS Digital.

Of all the carers surveyed, 77.8 percent reported ‘feeling tired’ and two thirds said that they experienced ‘disturbed sleep’.

In addition, more than three quarters of respondents said that they spend over 20 hours per week looking after somebody, with almost 40 percent spending over 100 hours per week on their caring duties.

The Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England 2018-19 reports on the views of 50,800 carers who are caring for a person aged 18 or over. The biennial survey of carers provides vital information about the impact of people’s caring responsibilities on their quality of life.

The results of the survey showed that the percentage of carers who were not in paid work because of their caring responsibilities increased from 21.0 percent in 2016-17 to 22.6 percent in 2018-19.

One in 10 respondents also reported that caring had caused them a lot of financial difficulties in the past year.

The largest age band of carers was 55-64 years, which accounted for 23.8 percent of the eligible population. The smallest group, 18-24 years, accounted for 1.6 percent of the eligible population.

NHS Digital is the national information and technology provider for the health and care system. Its goal is to harness the power of information and technology to make health and care better.