State of Caring in Wales: Carers’ health and wellbeing report.

The State of Caring in Wales: Carers’ health and wellbeing report from Carers Wales reveals a deepening crisis for unpaid carers in Wales. Based on responses from over 1,200 carers across Wales, the report sets out soaring mental health struggles, financial hardship and inadequate support from health and social care services.

Key findings

• More than 1 in 3 carers reported having bad or very bad mental health, an increase of 36% from 2023.
• 60% of carers feel overwhelmed by their caring role with 2 in 3 saying the primary reason for this is the lack of any break from caring.
• Neary 2 in 3 (63%) of carers who’ve tried to get support from social care services experienced long wait times and 57% said the services were not available when they needed them and 35% were concerned about the quality of care provided.
• 9 in 10 who had experienced challenges with services said it made them worry more about the future.
• 51% of carers who had a Carer’s Needs Assessment said their local authority had not supported them after the assessment with most feeling their needs were identified but support was not provided.

The top three needs of carers

• 7 in 10 carers said they needed more support with their own health and wellbeing and this was the top need cited by carers.
• 57% said they needed better understanding and recognition of unpaid carers from the public, the second most important need. Just 4% felt that the Welsh and UK Governments valued their role in society.
• 57% of carers said they needed more recognition of their needs from their local council, up from 46% in 2023, making this the third most important need cited by carers.

It is unacceptable that so many unpaid carers, who save Wales more than £10 billion per year, are experiencing poor health and feeling overwhelmed. We will only begin to see improvements with sufficient support from the NHS and local councils, but this work must be led by the Welsh Government.

Carers Wales is calling on the Welsh Government to take immediate action, including:

• Develop a fully funded Action and Implementation Plan for unpaid carers to deliver the rights set out and promised to carers in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
• Expand access to Carer’s Needs Assessments and ensuring assessments lead to tangible support for more carers.
• Increase funding for respite care and financial assistance for carers.
• Improve identification of carers in health and social care settings to ensure they receive timely support.