Princess royal trust for carers

This report presents a series of recommendations for Government and Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, GPs and Primary Health Care Teams, with the aim of improving the way primary care services identify and support carers. The recommendations are based on conclusions which emerged from a nine-month primary care project for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. The project aimed to find the most effective ways within primary care to identify carers and encourage them to use the services available.

This study, funded by The True Colours Trust in association with The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, investigates the experiences, needs and service responses to the 290,000 young adult carers aged 16-24 in the UK today.

Carers have a pressing need to be directed to good sources of information, help and support. NHS organisations appear to be consulting with carers much less than the level envisaged in the National Strategy for Carers. There is still too much poor or indifferent consultation practice and service providers appear not to be following known good practice guidelines. Over eight out of ten carers said that caring had a negative impact on their own health. Almost nine out of ten reported that they feel stress, anxiety, depression or loss of sleep, due to being a carer.

There are many different organisations working with and supporting carers. This guide can be used by a wide range of professionals in different ways. Whilst the case studies provide examples of the partnership work promoted by Carers Centres, the methodologies given can be used in other partnership work across carers’ services, as well as within health and social work services.

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers is a UK-wide network of 144 independent Carers’ Centres, which offer support including information, training, facilitating access to statutory services and benefits reviews. The Trust supports the network by providing a national voice for carers, and facilitating The Network to provide carers with the support they need. This report shows that an investment of less than £5 million in services provided by five carers' centres resulted in at least £73 million worth of social gains in a year.

This document has been written to act as a resource for all those involved in developing or providing online services for carers and their families. Many organisations and local authorities are currently exploring how the internet can be used to reach more carers and to provide services more effectively. This guide offers advice and direction on the creation and expansion of websites and other online services for carers, based on the experiences of providers and the views of carers themselves.