There are 4.7 million unpaid carers in England and the value of carers’ support is worth £152bn in England alone, a 30% increase since 2011 – due to carers providing more care. This is the same as the budget of the NHS. Unpaid carers outnumber health staff by around 3:1 and yet they often feel invisible and unsupported. Furthermore, 1 in 3 NHS staff are themselves unpaid carers. Supporting unpaid carers is therefore essential to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the NHS.
The Bill presents an important opportunity to improve the interaction between the NHS and unpaid carers, aligning duties on the NHS with existing duties on local authorities. The Health Bill could therefore benefit from the following amendments:
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Making it clear that unpaid carers will have access to the Single Patient Record, once the right permissions have been established
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Duty on ICBs to promote the health and wellbeing of carers
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Duty on Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to identify and record unpaid carers
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Provision of information and advice to unpaid carers
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Giving unpaid carers the right to a break via a National Respite Care Scheme
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Responsibility on health bodies and local authorities to act on feedback gathered by carers and people using services
This Commons Committee Stage briefing outlines key ways in which the Health Bill (NHS Modernisation Bill) could be improved in order to better support unpaid carers.
Find out more about our campaign to Put unpaid carers at the heart of the NHS.