Charities across Scotland are calling for an urgent 12-month plan of targeted support for unpaid carers, as research shows many are still experiencing unrelenting pressure.

A report released for Carers Week 2022 says more than 300,000 of Scotland’s unpaid carers are worried about their physical and mental health, and 195,000 are concerned about their ability to cope financially, as reduced day services and the cost of living crisis persist.

The research also reveals more care is being provided by this group than ever before – even during the height of the pandemic – with one in five adults in Scotland now supporting a relative, close friend or neighbour because of chronic illness or older age.

Across the UK, 30% more people are providing more than 50 hours of care per week.

Carers Scotland, along with Age Scotland, Carers Trust Scotland, MND Scotland, Oxfam Scotland and The Lewy Body Society, are calling for the long-awaited Carers Strategy and covid-19 recovery plan for social care to be published as a priority, along with actions to boost carers’ incomes.

On behalf of the Carers Week partners, the Director of Carers Scotland, Richard Meade, said:

“Clearly, whilst society has opened up for many people, it’s a very different picture for significant numbers of carers.

“So many have sacrificed their physical and mental health caring for their loved ones over the last two years and as this report clearly shows, it is absolutely essential that carers get the support they need to recover and stay well and meet the rising costs of living, that working carers are helped to stay in employment and that all carers can feel visible, valued and supported.”

The Scottish government’s most recent Health and Care Experience survey shows just 29% of surveyed carers are positive about the way local services are coordinated in their area, with one in three feeling unsupported to continue caring.

A national strategy aiming to improve support for carers in a “meaningful and sustainable way” is to be published by the end of spring, according to the Scottish government.

Today’s Carers Week report shows ‘overwhelming public support’ for more government action to help unpaid carers.

Almost nine in ten people surveyed by YouGov in Scotland think the Scottish government should increase financial support and investment in care and support services to enable unpaid carers to take respite breaks.

The Carers Week charities are also calling for national governments to implement carers leave, to allow carers to claim one-week unpaid leave, and to include carers in future vaccination booster programmes.

Amid concerns council-run social care services remain closed after being suspended at the beginning of the pandemic, the Social Care Minister, Kevin Stewart, said he has written to local authority organisation COSLA to request a nationwide audit of services.

Care regulator, the Care Inspectorate, has also launched a national inquiry into unpaid carers’ experiences of social work and social care services, to be published in August.

Representatives of the Carers Week partners met with Mr Stewart to mark Carers Week 2022, an annual awareness campaign to recognise the vital contribution made by the 6.5 million people caring across the UK.

Read more: Government commissions day services audit; Third of carers feel unsupported, survey shows; Funding call as day services remain closed

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