General practice and carers : scope for change?

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Over the last decade there have been substantial changes in the way support for carers has featured in the planning and development of health and social services. General practitioners and their practice teams however have not tended to be in the forefront of these developments although there is general agreement that supportive general practice is helpful for carers. This report addresses the following questions: what do carers expect from their GPs and general practices; how feasible is it to expect general practices to become a major source of support to carers; how could general practice become more supportive of carers; and how could changes best be fostered. Two projects which received support were: the Hackney and Newham project based at the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the Medical Colleges of St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospitals. This project worked with a number of general practices to set up ways in which carers could influence service provision. The aim was to create effective partnerships between general practice and carers that would improve the quality of life for patients and establish more sensitive and responsive support to carers; the Sutton project based in the Housing and Social Service Department, working together with the Sutton and Wandsworth FHSA. The project set out to explore and establish ways in which GP practices could be organised to support carers.

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