Unpaid Carers Improvement Programme

Unpaid Carers

We work with staff across health and social care to improve identification, involvement and support for unpaid carers in the design and delivery of health and social care services.

The Unpaid Carers Improvement Programme ended in March 2024. During the lifetime of the programme we developed a range of resources, with the aim of helping staff working across health and social care to have the skills, knowledge and confidence to identify, involve and support unpaid carers, and to ensure that services are designed and delivered to meet carer needs. These webpages remain as a repository for those resources.

The resources cover the two main workstreams of the programme:

improving carer involvement across health, and
supporting the quality planning of local care services, including planning for short breaks.

What is an unpaid carer?

An unpaid carer is anyone who looks after a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without there support.

Unpaid carers interact with a wide range of health and care services right across the system, with challenges highlighted around identification, involvement and support for this population. All staff have a role to ‘think carer’ and recognise opportunities to address the challenges and improve carer experience.

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