Support and help for people who care for others in west Essex

Unpaid carers provide a vital role in population health and healthcare, ensuring the elderly, those with a disability and those with long term conditions get round the clock physical care, emotional support, love and understanding at marginal cost to the NHS and Government.

Overview

Through this report, Healthwatch Essex aims to voice the lived experiences of carers in west Essex, to highlight their support needs, and allow comparison to be made between those needs and what is being delivered through the ICS. This will provide insight into what is going well, what could be improved, where there might be blockages in the system, and what on-going programmes should be in place.

Publication date

February 2023

Key findings

Care for the cared-for person
Respite
Role of the GP
Hospital and other healthcare settings
Adapting and moving forward

Additional information

Survey by Healthwatch Hertfordshire.

Healthwatch Hertfordshire and Healthwatch Essex have been commissioned by the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) Primary Care Workstream to undertake a series of engagement projects.

The aims of the engagement projects include:

Gathering lived experiences to feed directly into the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICS
Primary Care Workstream.
Supporting and enabling the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICS to achieve wider
participant engagement.
Engaging patients and the public on programmes covering key priorities and areas of
importance at a regional and local level.
Making recommendations to the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICS Primary Care
Workstream so improvements can be implemented.