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England’s five million unpaid carers of people provide up to £87 billion worth of care to family and friends with long term conditions or support needs.  One million people in England care for 50 or more hours per week.  In the UK, there is a turnover of two million people moving in and out of caring, which means that the task of identifying and supporting local carers is never complete, with many carers attempting to provide unsustainable levels of care in isolation.

A new blueprint for councils who are buying services to help carers who are looking after people in their homes comes in a new Guide ‘Commissioning for Carers’.

It is being launched this week by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and four carers’ organisations working alongside health and local government agencies, with support from the Department of Health.

The guide aims to help local areas to meet new National health Service (NHS) and social care inspection expectations on carers and demonstrate competencies.  It also highlights the carer-relevant aspects of key government health and social care strategies.  The guide introduces a new model of comprehensive carer support, which is a working consensus drawn up in consultation with providers and commissioners outlining the range of carer interventions needed in any area in order to achieve the five outcomes for carers as outlined in the vision of the ‘National Carers Strategy’.  This can be used by leaders to generate a strategic overview of current provision and unmet need.  The guide is accompanied by a shorter Action Guide for Decision-Makers aimed at directors of adult services, Primary Care Trust (PCT) chief executives and elected members.

 Key recommendations in the guide include:

    * think ‘carer’ in all commissioning and area needs assessments (JSNAs)
    * improve outcomes, independence and choices for both carers and those they care for
    * involve carers of all groups and communities in decision-making and planning processes
    * strengthen the carer support provider market, using a variety of funding approaches

Andrew Cozens, Local government Association (LGA) Group Strategic Lead of Adult Social Care and Health The Improvement and Development Agency said:

    “This guide demonstrates a new consensus across providers and commissioners, and health and social care.  Better support for carers is increasingly recognised as a key part of ensuring the sustainability of health and social care.  The guide provides a flexible framework within which every area can more effectively assess need and raise standards for carers.”

Alex Fox, Director of Policy and Communication for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers said:

    “Commissioning for carers is complex, because carers are both users and providers of care.  The National Carers’ Strategy calls for a society in which carers feel that they have both a caring system on their side and a life of their own.  Achieving this vision will require every area not only to ensure there are specialist information and support services for carers, but also that every agency becomes more carer-friendly.”

As well as considering the provision of breaks and other kinds of carer support, the guide looks at the need for capacity building and local infrastructure work which puts carers at the heart of the community, such as working with local employers to become more carer and disability friendly and helping carers’ voices to be heard by decision-makers.  It also helps commissioners to identify measures of their success in promoting carers’ choice and control, such as carer take-up of personal budgets and the number of unplanned care home placements due to carer emergencies.