Carers UK and NHS England have developed this ‘Unpaid Carer Pathway’ to help professionals involved in the delivery of virtual wards understand at which point unpaid carers should be involved, informed, have their needs assessed, and when to be given choices, information, advice and support.

It helps healthcare professionals to better understand an unpaid carer’s journey through a virtual ward, pin-pointing the precise times and places for interventions. This, along with the professional’s checklist that we have developed, provide a basis against which virtual wards can assess their progress towards supporting unpaid carers.