Informal carers health and wellbeing

Informal and unpaid carers provide vital support for many people with health and social care needs. However, there is growing evidence that the demands of caring are increasingly impacting carers’ own physical and mental health. This has led to calls that unpaid caring should be considered a social determinant of health.

The Carers Action Plan 2018–2020, published by the previous government, included a commitment for NHS England and the Care Quality Commission to develop quality standards for GP surgeries to support carers. Supporting carers in general practice is a framework of quality markers for improving how general practice can better identify and support carers of all ages. The NHS Long Term Plan of January 2019 repeated a commitment to improve how the NHS identifies unpaid carers, and to better address their health needs.