This resource has been developed by the Carers Partnership (Carers UK and Carers Trust) as part of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Alliance, with the input of unpaid carers, professionals working in health and social care, virtual wards leaders, local carers’ organisations and local authorities. We are grateful for their input, along with colleagues at NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Its purpose is to support health and care systems in England to improve the inclusion, support, and involvement of unpaid carers. It brings together statutory duties and best practice resources developed by the Carers Partnership (2022–2025), to help health and care professionals reduce the health inequalities carers face, better identify unpaid carers, and drive transformative change.

It includes information, resources and best practice examples to help health and care professionals to support unpaid carers on the following:

• Carer identification

• Hospital discharge and unpaid carers

• Social prescribing for unpaid carers

• Carer contingency planning

• Supporting unpaid carers through virtual wards

• Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) engagement of unpaid carers

• Carers’ breaks

• Carers’ assessments

For more information, please contact policy@carersuk.org