Are you a carer looking after a loved one?
As a carer, you are doing a vital job in helping someone else to get the most out of life.
Whether it’s a paid or unpaid role, part time or round the clock, we know it’s tough, physically and emotionally. You deserve great respect and recognition for all you are doing.
As part of our commitment to all the unpaid carers we work with, we’d like to tell you about the 2022 GP Patient Survey and encourage you to complete it.
About the survey
GP practices have had to make changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is more important than ever that NHS England hear about the experiences of using local GP and primary healthcare services. If you are registered with a GP practice in England you will receive an invitation to take part during January.
It’s an opportunity for your voice to be heard and for you to contribute information that will help to improve GP services for you as a carer and for the people you care for. Please take a few minutes to fill in this important survey when you receive it. – Theresa Erhard, Social Care Lead
How will the survey be sent out?
The invitations will be sent out by letter to a sample of people from each of the more than 6,500 GP practices in England. The survey team at NHS England and NHS Improvement will follow this up with a text message reminder (where a mobile number is recorded), alongside further paper questionnaires, to encourage as high a response rate as possible.
Why is it important to complete the survey?
The NHS England’s GP Patient Survey 2022 provides vital information to the NHS to identify what’s working well and what can be improved.
It has a question in it asking if you are an unpaid carer and how many hours of care you provide. This question provides a valuable source of information for local health and care planning systems which should be using this data locally to support the development or continuation of carers’ support. This data will also be used nationally to steer decisions about caring across the UK.
The results will be published in Summer 2022.
If you would like to connect with other carers through Willen Hospice, or find out how we can support you, please read more here.
If you want to check out how your practice fared in last year’s survey, take a look at the survey website
