What adult and young carers told us

In total, 412 young and adult carers gave feedback to the strategy, including 306 adult carers who responded to our survey. Of the carers that responded to each question:

• 54% provide over 50 hours of care each week and many carers did not have a break from caring.
• 95% are not able to spend as much time as they want doing things they enjoy.
• 78% said they do not have enough time to look after themselves.
• 99% said caring had impacted negatively on their own health.
• 65% said caring has caused financial difficulties.
• 84% said they do not have as much social contact as they would like.
• 81% said they have not enough encouragement and support in their caring role.
• 67% said they have not found it easy to find information, advice and guidance, and 59% said that information they had found had not been helpful.
• 35% said they had not been involved or consulted as much as they wanted to be in discussions about the support or services provided to the person they care for.
• 71% who felt respite was relevant to their situation said they would not know how to access it if they needed to.
• Many were worried about what would happen when they can no longer care.
• Many said that they were unaware of the carers assessment.

18. Adult carers said their top priorities to support them in their caring role are:

• More timely support, including practical support, face to face and flexible peer support groups;
• Reliable, accessible and timely information for example at the point of diagnosis or crisis;
• More support from primary care, including signposting and timely information and advice;
• More opportunities for a break from caring;
• Simpler health and care systems including consistent workers, named contacts and being able to speak to someone;
• To be recognised and valued, and for health and social care professionals to understand and have empathy for the carer’s role;

19. Young carers and their families told us their top priorities are:

• More support, including socialisation support, counselling and flexible peer support sessions;
• Being identified as a young carer earlier and support given at an earlier stage;
• More awareness of young carers in schools, communities, and health services;
• More support in schools as a young carer and more practical support, such as exam help, free school meals, additional help;
• More opportunities for a break from caring;
• More funding and opportunities for young carers from local services including Staffordshire Together for Carers.