A carer is anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend because of their illness, frailty, disability, mental health, substance misuse or learning disability (NHS England).

Carers are unpaid and shouldn’t be confused with care workers or care assistants, who received payment for looking after someone.

A young carer is someone under the age of 18 whose life is restricted in some way by offering care, help and support to another person. Their protection and support is vital to ensure they can have all the opportunities that would be open to them if they weren’t undertaking this caring role.

Carers support service

Our carers service is run by a team of volunteers under the supervision of our carers lead. The support we provide include the following:

We offer emotional support to carers by telephone or in person.
We refer for carers assessment.
We signpost to other support services in the community.
We advocate for carers involvement in decision making in line with the Health and Care Act 2022.
We support carers through complaint processes.
We collect feedback on carers involvement.

Find out more in our leaflet below:

Carers support service - patient information

Size: 757KBType: pdf

Carers cafe

Do you know any unpaid carer or patients' next of kin who may require additional support during the hospital stay of those they care for? Please let them know about our weekly carers cafe.

A weekly drop in session is held each Wednesday from 2pm to 5pm at the MOP hub discharge lounge, G level, West Wing, Southampton General Hospital.

Support available includes:

Emotional support
Involvement in complex discharge
Referral for carers assessment
Social prescribing - signposting for specialist support
Liaising with local authorities
Support through feedback and complaints process

To book a place, please email CarerSupport@uhs.nhs.uk.