Do carers’ needs assessments make a difference? Results from the Forget me not study

Abstract

SIR—The National Strategy for Carers (NSC) [1] made commitments that carers would have better access to information, care and support. Subsequent legislation [2] gave carers the right to request a separate assessment of their needs and indicated that the UK government ‘sees carers assessments as the gateway to providing services to carers and wishes to see an increase in their uptake’ [2]. It is not known whether the introduction of needs assessments has improved carers’ access to information, care and support [1]. Keely and Clarke [3] found that only half of 2,790 carers surveyed had heard of carers assessments, only a quarter had received an assessment and only 14% said that the assessment made a difference to them. Staff have also expressed concerns that assessments might raise carers’ expectations when no additional services are available and are time consuming with no tangible outcomes for caregivers [4]. This study used local carer surveys and local service evaluations, across England, to investigate whether the local provision of carers’ needs assessments were associated with better access to information, care and support.