Experiences of unpaid carers registering with GP practices in Cheshire

During some targeted Healthwatch engagement activity with people attending carers groups it became apparent, both from carer support organisations and people themselves, that there appeared to be an issue with carers registering with their GP Practice as a carer.

Healthwatch in Cheshire received 195 responses from unpaid carers.

Findings

 In both Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester, around two out of every three people Healthwatch spoke to had registered with their GP Practice as a carer. This appears to be positively influenced by the work of Cheshire and Warrington Carers Trust, and more recently the Cheshire East Carers Hub, who are commissioned to deliver carers services and projects across both Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East.

A sizeable number of people were not aware they could register as a carer with their GP Practice - 22% of respondents in Cheshire East and 29% in Cheshire West and Chester.

 Of those who were aware they could register as a carer, but had not, Healthwatch’s findings suggest that they are not aware of the benefits on offer to them by registering.

Of those registered as a carer with their GP, a minority felt they had benefited and received a good service. Most people did not appear to receive the full range of possible expected benefits highlighted by the Care Act 2014 and Carers Federation as good practice.

Most respondents did not feel they had benefited a great deal from registering with their GP Practice as a carer. Although there appeared to be some benefits that more people felt they recognised, for examples receiving flu jabs, people were uncertain whether it was connected to being a carer or possibly the easiest of the benefits to fulfil.

Many carers believed that there was a lack of awareness and understanding of carers’ rights and the challenges of their role from staff at GP Practices. This could also sometimes be noticed in a lack of support when booking an appointment and a lack of knowledge about signposting to carer support services by GP Practice staff.

There were particular benefits that some respondents felt more passionate about and would like to see some change regarding. For example, GP Practice staff having more awareness of the role of a carer, more conveniently timed appointments, and being involved in the care planning of the person for whom they were caring.

Recommendations

• Primary Care commissioners and Clinical Commissioning Groups should
  
  • review outcomes from survey and share with appropriate partners, services and carers.
  • Carry out review of Care Act expectations around carers’ rights, and organise appropriate awareness raising for health services.
  • Work with carers support organisations to develop a collaborative approach to prioritise benefits and develop an agreed and appropriate improvement strategy.
  • organise a broader dialogue between GP Practices and carers support organisations to overcome inconsistent approaches from different GP Practices.
• GP Practices should share examples of good practice to support strategy and overcome inconsistencies.
• Clinical Commissioning Groups should engage with carers as a specific group across broader range of health topics, e.g. longer-term conditions – autism, mental health, dementia, etc