Starting off the programme’s week-long focus on care, Carers UK spoke to BBC Breakfast this morning about the intolerable strain unpaid carers have been facing looking after older and disabled loved ones with limited support.

Carers UK member Dorothy Cook spoke powerfully about caring round the clock for her husband Melvin, and the challenges of doing so without the help she needs from health and care services, including the impact this is having on her own health and wellbeing. Our Director of Policy and Public Affairs Emily Holzhausen underlined the health pressures on carers nationally: 79% report feeling stressed or anxious, 49% are depressed, while 44% of carers have put off health treatment because of their caring role.

Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said:

“Our social care system has received a chronic lack of attention, commitment and funding from the government for far too long and this is having devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers and the people they support - not to mention the care sector and the wider economy. This must change in 2024 if we are serious about meeting the needs of people in our society. As we begin the new year, we ask this and any future government to recognise the enormous societal and economic value unpaid carers contribute and we call on them to return their investment. Ensuring carers have access to practical support, can prioritise their own health and wellbeing while caring, and remain financially resilient is crucial for the overall health of the country.”