Lewis, Suzanne

Introduction: The Carer Support Unit (CSU) of the Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD), NSW, Australia, developed, trialled and implemented a Carer Readiness Tool (CRT) to help carers gauge their readiness to care at home, highlight to hospital staff areas for additional support for carers, and provide evidence of carer engagement in discharge planning. Methods: A rigorous co-design process was followed with carer consultation at key milestones in development of the CRT.

The Carer Support Unit of the Central Coast Local Health District (New South Wales, Australia) is working with the District's inpatient cancer services to improve the identification of caring relationships for cancer inpatients. The first stage of the project was to do a literature review and environmental scan to assess the extent of the issue. We found significant barriers to carer identification, including: carer self-identification issues; definitional issues around the label 'carer'; system and process issues; and health workforce issues.