Commenting on the 2024 NHS Adult Inpatient survey coordinated and published by Picker for the Care Quality Commission, Emily Holzhausen CBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Carers UK said:

"It has been yet another year with poor involvement of unpaid carers about hospital discharge when this is a clear statutory responsibility in England. A staggering 1 in 5 unpaid carers are not involved at all.  Whilst there's been a 1% improvement on this rate from last year, it's remained consistently low for the last few years at this level (around 22%). 

"This comes on the back of Carers UK's own engagement with unpaid carers which shows the drastic lack of engagement and support at hospital discharge - the very point at which many families start to take on care. Our latest report shows 32% of carers disagreed they were involved about discharge decisions over the past year, compared to just 38% who agreed they were. It is unacceptable that just 14% of carers felt they were asked about their ability and willingness to provide care as part of the discharge process. We know that poor discharges result in avoidable readmissions, incredible stress for the unpaid carer and potential damage to the health of the person needing care.  

"It's simply got to change. We cannot continue with an NHS that routinely ignores unpaid carers, does not involve or support them at crucial moments and yet relies on them to do a huge amount of caring.  As well as the financial cost, there are huge costs for families and this simply doesn't make sense.

“Our latest report detailing carers’ experiences of the NHS in England calls for a significant culture change where all NHS systems and professionals ‘think carer’ by default, to ensure they are not seen as an informal add-on to the healthcare system, but as essential partners without whom the NHS cannot succeed. If we are to properly support patients and families at hospital discharge, this shift cannot come soon enough.”