Carers UK is welcoming that the Government has recently launched a public engagement exercise to inform the development of a new 10 year plan for the NHS.
Members of the public, as well as NHS staff and experts are being urged to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS and making it fit for the future, via the online platform, change.nhs.uk, which will be live until the start of next year, and available via the NHS App.
Alongside patients and staff, we want unpaid carers to have a strong voice in shaping the future of the NHS to ensure:
- the NHS 10-year plan clearly recognises the role of unpaid carers
- there are specific measures which would better recognise and support unpaid carers, both in their caring role and as patients needing support themselves.
How can carers help shape the future of the NHS?
Unpaid carers have a vital perspective on the future of the NHS. We want to make sure carers’ voices are heard loud and clear by the Government, recognising the huge role unpaid carers play in looking after others and working to improve the services that carers rely on.
To share your view on the future of the NHS, you need to visit change.nhs.uk.
Each questionnaire in the survey only takes a few minutes to complete and asks for your experiences of the NHS and your ideas for the future. This is an opportunity to reflect on your interactions with the NHS as an unpaid carer – whether that be hospital discharge, waiting times, community provision – so answer with as much detail as possible.
Make sure you tick the 'unpaid carers' box to identify yourself – so that Government knows unpaid carers have responded
The final question in the survey asks if you currently provide any ‘informal care or support for family members, friends or others’. If you are an unpaid carer, please make sure you answer this question, choosing the option of who you care for. It is vital the Government knows how many unpaid carers are sharing their views on the NHS – this is the question that will tell them that.
Engagement for organisations in the 10 Year Health Plan
If you work for a carer organisation or forum, we need your help in raising carers’ prolife in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan. The Government has launched a ‘Workshop in a Box’ initiative for organisations to hold their own local engagement events to inform the development of the 10-year plan.
Feedback from these workshops is due by Friday 14 February 2025. When running these events, you will be asked to fill in a feedback form. These forms do not mention unpaid carers as a specific group – in the space to provide further detail, please ensure you make it clear on the form that you have engaged with unpaid carers.
You can find out how to run your own Workshop in a Box, as well as a set of resources to guide the workshop, on the NHS Plan website.
What has Carers UK done so far?
We have gathered evidence from a short survey where carers told us about their experiences of the NHS and shared insights on what the future of the NHS should look like for unpaid carers.
We also held an online engagement event in November, where carers shared their views on the NHS directly with senior staff from the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England.
We will use these insights over the coming months to ensure carers’ voices are at the heart of NHS reforms that are brought forward.
Why are unpaid carers important to the NHS?
The 4.7 million unpaid carers in England provide essential support for millions of older, ill or disabled relatives and friends. Carers’ support is valued at £152 billion, the equivalent of a second NHS, but they often face greater health inequalities and poor health outcomes.
Carers UK has been calling for change for many years to help improve carers’ own health and wellbeing and fundamentally change the way that the NHS recognises and supports unpaid carers in their caring role.
Many carers struggle within their own health, with mounting evidence that unpaid caring is a social determinant of health. The 2021 GP Patient Survey found that 60% of carers report a long-term health condition or disability compared to 50% of non-carers. 60% of unpaid carers answering our State of Caring 2023 survey said they were not involved in hospital discharge, despite this being the law. A majority of unpaid carers responding to Carers UK research said that they needed more support from the NHS in order to care.
Lord Darzi’s independent investigation of the NHS in England recognised that carers need and deserve more support from the NHS. Despite their huge contribution to care in the UK, carers often feel invisible and misunderstood. The Darzi report recommended the NHS needs a ‘fresh approach’ to unpaid carers.
What will Carers UK be calling for?
We will be adding to this page and updating it as the NHS Plan engagement develops.