Unpaid carers 'feel increasingly isolated'

Unpaid carers are feeling increasingly socially isolated, stressed, depressed and not encouraged or supported in their roles, new NHS figures show.

Fewer carers are able to take a break from caring for more than 24 hours and fewer have received support from social services departments in the last year, according to a survey published by NHS Digital.

The Survey of Adult Carers in England runs every twoyears,butthe202021surveywaspostponedbya year due to the coronavirus pandemic,sothemostrecent time period to compare the latest findings to is 2018-19.

Researchers analysed responses from 43,525 unpaid adultcarerswhowereknown totheircouncilandcaringfor an adult.

They found that the proportion of carers who feel theyhaveasmuchsocialcontactastheywant,withpeople they like, has been in "steady decline" over the years and fell "more profoundly" in 2021-22.

Some 32.5% of carers felt this way in 2018-19, dropping to 28% in the latest survey.

Overthesameperiod,the proportion of carers reporting little social contact and feeling socially isolated increased from 17.4% to 20.9%. There was also a fall in carers saying they are able to spend their time as they want, doing things they value or enjoy (17.3% in 2018-19 to 16.2% in 2021-22). Some 18.3% said they do not do anything they valueorenjoywiththeirtime.

NHS Digital said the impact of the pandemic should be considered in relation to these responses. Over the same period, the percentage ofcarerswithamentalhealth problem or illness rose from 10.9% to 13.2%.