What is required of GP surgeries?
The toolkit, Supporting Carers in Primary Care has been developed in alignment with NHS England's Quality Markers for Unpaid Carers and reflect the principles contained in NICE's quality standard on supporting adult carers.
NHS England
The NHS long-term Plan states that carers will benefit from greater recognition and support to address their individual health needs. To achieve this, GP practices must have mechanisms to show that the work going on around carers is improving identification. This is where the carers register comes in.
Consistency when coding unpaid carers will help to ensure that carers are better identified and supported across and within systems. To achieve this, NHS England have reviewed the clinical codes and set out and recommended a cluster of 4 SNOMED CT codes for unpaid carers, of all ages.
NHS England state that systems are expected to:
Consistency when coding unpaid carers will help to ensure that carers are better identified and supported across and within systems. To achieve this, NHS England have reviewed the clinical codes and set out and recommended a cluster of 4 SNOMED CT codes for unpaid carers, of all ages.
NHS England state that systems are expected to:
- Report how many unpaid carers are registered in primary care, including the number of young carers,
- and of those unpaid carers, how many have a carer contingency plan recorded in records so that professionals can action them when required.
This is not a statutory requirement, but is expected practice.
Having an up to date regIsiter enables the GP practice to address the individual health needs of the carer and refer carers on for wider practical and emotional assistance to support them in their carer journey and reduce carer breakdown.
Having an up to date regIsiter enables the GP practice to address the individual health needs of the carer and refer carers on for wider practical and emotional assistance to support them in their carer journey and reduce carer breakdown.
Care Quality Commission
To tackle inequalities in health and care, CQC have developed measures to ensure they focus on specific areas in inspection. When CQC assess and report on quality, they will use the summary phrase “people more likely to have a poorer experience of care”. This covers people who are more likely to have poor access, experience, and outcomes in health and social care. Carers are a group considered to have a poorer experience of care.
CQC look at how effectively carers are supported when they consider the key lines of enquiry:
- C2: involving people in decisions about their care
- R1: how do people receive personalised care that is responsive to their needs?
The CQC may ask questions about how practices support carers:
- Carers registers
- Holistic support needs
- In-practice support
- Appointments and access
- Information for carers
- Awareness and culture