NHS release new toolkit as part of a Commitment to Carers

“The NHS must do everything it can to help end a situation where carers are twice as likely to suffer from ill health as non-carers.”

Developed in collaboration with a wide range of partners which forms part of NHS England’s ongoing Commitment to Carers, NHS England has published the Integrated approach to identifying and assessing Carer health and wellbeing.

The ‘integrated approach’ provides a toolkit that clarifies the new duties on NHS organisations under the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014, providing a template Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support joined up working locally which includes numerous examples of positive practice of work proven to be successful in supporting carers and their families.

Carers are twice as likely to suffer from ill health as non-carers. More than half of those who provide more substantial care have suffered physical ill health as a result of caring and more than 70 per cent of those caring round the clock have suffered mental ill health at some time.

Taking an integrated approach to delivering support for carers allows the NHS to develop new models of delivering care and allows different services to work together and respond more flexibly to the needs of individual carers and their families.

Neil Churchill, Director of Patient Experience at NHS England, said: “The NHS must do everything it can to help end a situation where carers are twice as likely to suffer from ill health as non-carers. This toolkit will make it easier for carers to access the right support, at the right time and in the right place – we hope those working across the NHS will use it to improve the support they offer.”

Helen Leadbitter, Operational Programme Manager at the Children’s Society, said: “The Children’s Society welcomes the publication of this toolkit which has the potential to help ensure that England’s 170,000 young carers and their families get the support they need at the time they need it. The integrated approach outlined in this toolkit offers an opportunity for all local partners involved in the care of children to co-operate with each other in supporting young carers and their families in a whole system, whole family approach”.

Copies of the toolkit are being sent out to clinical commissioning groups, directors of social services, health and wellbeing boards and local carer support organisations.

To access a copy of the toolkit, click HERE