Carers in Crisis, reports Healthwatch England
Did you know?
- There are 7 million carers in the UK
- 1.2. million carers spend 50 hours or more a week performing their care duties
- 2 million people become a carer each year, equivalent to 6,000 a day.
- 61% of carers say that their physical health has been affected as a result of their responsibilities.
- 72% said their mental health has been negatively affected.
Healthwatch England found that:
- Services are difficult to find, with many carers unaware until they hit breaking point
- Councils lack the necessary data about local need to make a strong case for extra investment
The feedback that was gathered from around the country from 2016-2018 paints a stark picture of what it’s like trying to find and access help when taking on carer responsibilities for relatives, friends and neighbours.
Many of those who shared their stories said they only found out about the help on offer ‘by chance’ or started looking at their options when they had already started struggling.
The findings and conclusions are included in the this report, and the Healthwatch network gathered to discuss the report and what the government needs to do to address the needs of carers in the Social Care Green Paper.
They also discussed the NHS Long Term Plan and how communities can be involved as the plan develops.
Read Healthwatch Wandsworth's report on what local people have told us.
