Carers
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve NHS (a) engagement with and (b) leadership responsiveness to small community-led carer networks.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
We recognise the importance of listening to and partnering with people who use the National Health Service, their unpaid carers and the organisations and networks that represent them. The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced new duties for NHS England and integrated care boards to involve carers in public engagement.
I chair a regular cross-government meeting made up of ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, and Department for Education, as well as senior officials from NHS England, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.
NHS England and the Department also regularly engages with both national charities, local carer organisations and unpaid carers directly.
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