Support for carers – how community pharmacy teams can help

A carer is a person who provides unpaid care for a family member, partner or friend who cannot cope without their support due to an illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction.

The term ‘carer’ is sometimes confused with a care worker or care assistant; however, the difference is that a carer is unpaid whereas a care worker or care assistant is paid for looking after someone.

The sort of roles and responsibilities that carers provide can vary greatly. It can range from help with everyday tasks such as helping someone get dressed and personal care such as bathing, to emotional support such as helping someone cope with the symptoms of a mental illness or an addiction.

Sometimes people refer to carers as full-time carers or part-time carers; however, there is not a minimum time requirement that means they are more or less of a carer. There is also no minimum age restriction on what “qualifies” someone as a carer.

There are nearly 7 million carers in the UK; almost 5 million of these people are carers in England.

Community pharmacy teams have always provided support for carers via the wide range of services they provide. This support, such as practical assistance to order and collect prescriptions from GP practices, delivery of medicines to people’s homes and helping people to manage their medicines use, via multi-compartment compliance aids, as well as signposting to support organisations, has often been provided, without consideration of whether a person is a carer; these are simply services that are offered to those with a need for support. However, these are services that can have a massive impact in assisting carers, therefore, the need to identify carers and tell them about the services available in the pharmacy and signpost them to support organisations is extremely important.

Community Pharmacy England has produced two template leaflets for pharmacy contractors to use to assist them in advising carers on the services they offer and to provide information to carers on managing medicines.

Carers Leaflet – Pharmacy Services (Microsoft Word)

Carers Leaflet – Managing Medicines (Microsoft Word)

Cares Trust has produced a  flyer (Microsoft Word) detailing the help available for carers from their organisation. Pharmacy owners can insert their pharmacy logo or contact details on the second page of the flyer to distribute to carers.

NHS England’s Commitment to Carers stated that 70% of carers come into contact with health professionals yet health professionals only identify one in ten carers and that 66% of carers feel that healthcare staff do not help to signpost them to relevant information or support. When information is given, it comes from charities and support groups. This shows there is a big opportunity for pharmacy teams to contribute to identifying carers and signposting them to the information and support they need.

Examples of how community pharmacy teams are getting involved are listed below.

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Flu vaccination service

Carers are included in the group of patients eligible for an NHS flu vaccination under the national flu service but it can be difficult to identify who is a carer. Resources to assist pharmacy teams in identifying carers can be found on the Identifying carers eligible for a flu vaccination page.

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The Carer-Friendly pharmacy pilot – November 2014 to February 2015

The Carer-Friendly pharmacy pilot, led by Carers Trust and Community Pharmacy England was part of a programme of work funded by the DHSC and formed part of the ‘Supporting Carers in General Practice Programme’ involving Carers Trust, the RCGP and Carers UK.

A total of 44 pharmacies were involved across nine Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPCs) areas.

The aim of the project was to increase the identification and support of unpaid carers within primary care and community settings so that carers receive support before they reach crisis point. The project tested the concept of a ‘Carer-Friendly Pharmacy’, which pharmacies participating in the project sought to become.

A Carer Friendly Pharmacy is one where:

1. all staff are trained to be carer aware, sensitive to carers’ needs and the challenges they face and have developed enhanced communication skills to enable them to engage effectively with carers;
2. all staff are pro-active in identifying, referring and supporting carers;
3. the pharmacy identifies a member of the team who takes on the role of Carers Champion along with a deputy – their role is to lead and facilitate carer referrals, act as a contact point for external agencies such as the local carers centre and GP practices to support a multi-disciplinary approach and to maintain stocks of resources;
4. posters and/or related materials make it clear to the customer that the pharmacy is carer-friendly and encourage them to self-identify; N.B. It is acknowledged that displaying materials will be easier in larger pharmacies and Healthy Living Pharmacies where there is a dedicated notice board to display such information;
5. the pharmacy offers a range of clinical services and prescription collection and delivery, in a manner that is relevant to the carer; and
6. with the carer’s consent, the pharmacy will refer the carer to their local carers services and/or their GP.

The core model may, in some localities, be augmented by add-ons such as pharmacy delivery driver engagement with carers, pharmacy-based carers’ health checks and free flu vaccinations for carers where the pharmacy has been commissioned to do so.

Below are resources used to support the Carers Trust/Community Pharmacy England Carer-Friendly Pharmacy pilot:

Carer-Friendly Pharmacy Pilot – summary

A5 services flyer

A5 pharmacy leaflet

A3 pharmacy poster

Referral pad

FAQs

CPPE and Carers Trust training 

Training evaluation form

Pre-workshop activities

Training presentation handouts

An evaluation of the service has been published by the Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) at the University of Leeds.

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Devon Carers – Carers Health and Wellbeing Checks

Pharmacy teams were involved in another service in Devon, the Carer Health and Wellbeing Check service. This service was offered in a number of participating pharmacies and GP surgeries and was aimed at adult carers between the ages of 40-74 and carers at risk of admission to hospital (or if they were caring for someone at risk of admission to hospital).

The Carer Health and Wellbeing Check service, offered carers an hour of protected time, providing a free and confidential check-up covering elements of the NHS Health Check, where appropriate, and a wider review of the carer’s health, wellbeing and home environment. It also offered the carer the opportunity to raise any worries or concerns they may have about their health.

If a carer was unable to visit the pharmacy or GP as they could not leave the person they care for, a home visit was sometimes possible. Alternatively, there was money available to pay for someone to look after the person being cared for while the carer had their check.

A plan was developed with the carer and this incorporated referral to other services where required. A follow up review was then offered to the carer six months later.

The service ran as a pilot during 2010-11 before being commissioned by NHS Devon in 2011. LPC members can view the evaluation of the pilot scheme on the Community Pharmacy England services database (please note LPC members should log in to the LPC members section of the website prior to searching the database in order to access this information).

Further information on the service can be found on the Devon Carers website.