You have probably rearranged your own health around someone else's for longer than you can remember. Cancelled a dentist here, pushed a prescription renewal to the bottom of the list there, sat in a waiting room holding your parent's coat while their name was called and yours never was. Most family carers get very good, very quickly, at becoming invisible inside a healthcare system that was mostly built around the person being treated, not the person doing the treating.

What almost nobody tells you is that your GP surgery may have a specific appointment available to you, not to the person you care for, but to you, the carer. It might be called a carer support appointment, a carer wellbeing review, or simply a carer check-in depending on the practice. And in many surgeries across England, it has been sitting there, unclaimed, because the surgery assumed you knew about it, and you assumed you were not entitled.

What the carer register actually is

Under NHS General Medical Services contract guidance, GP practices are encouraged to keep a carer register, a list of patients who are providing unpaid care to a family member or friend. Being on that register is not bureaucratic box-ticking. It unlocks a few things that genuinely matter. It means your GP knows your caring role when they are looking at your health. It means the practice can flag you for a carer wellbeing review, which NICE guidance NG150 specifically recommends. It can also mean you are contacted automatically for flu vaccination, rather than having to remember to book it yourself during the one fortnight of the year when you have already used up every spare hour.

According to Carers UK, around five million people in England provide unpaid care, but the vast majority are not registered with their GP as a carer. The surgery cannot offer you what you have not asked for. And the ask is simpler than it sounds: you call the reception, you say you are a carer for someone, and you ask to be added to the carer register. That is the entire first step.

What the appointment itself can cover

Carer support appointments vary quite a bit from practice to practice, and it is worth being specific when you book about what you actually need. Some practices have a dedicated social prescriber or carer champion who runs these sessions. Others route you through a GP or practice nurse. Either way, the appointment can cover things that would otherwise fall through every crack.

Your own mental health is often the first thing that comes up, because it tends to be the thing carers have been sitting on the longest. Anxiety, low mood, disturbed sleep from nighttime care, the specific grief of watching someone you love change, these are legitimate clinical concerns and a carer support appointment is one of the few places the system has set aside time to ask about them. The GP can also review whether any of your own medications or conditions have been drifting unmanaged while your attention has been elsewhere.

Beyond clinical care, a social prescriber attached to your surgery can connect you with local carer groups, respite options through your borough, or help you understand whether you or the person you care for might benefit from a carer's assessment through the council. The Carers UK Helpline on 0808 808 7777 can also walk you through what a carer's assessment involves before you make that call.

What to do tomorrow morning

Call your GP surgery. If you are unsure whether they have a carer register, just ask: 'Do you have a carer register, and can you add me to it?' Most reception staff will know what you mean. If they do not, ask to leave a note for the practice manager. You could also ask directly: 'Is there a carer support appointment or wellbeing review I can book for myself?' If your surgery has a social prescriber, ask to be connected to them. If you are not sure what your council offers carers separately, Age UK's advice line on 0800 678 1602 can help you think through that alongside the GP route.

One thing families tell us they wish they had known earlier is that asking for support as a carer does not signal that you cannot cope. It signals that you are the person holding everything together and you would like the system to help you hold it for a bit longer.

If the care at home is also feeling stretched, and you are wondering how to get consistent, reliable support for your parent without having to manage an ever-changing rota, Hibant can help with that piece. We are a London introductory care agency and we work with families arranging private or direct-payment funded care at home.

If you are carrying both your own health and someone else's and the GP route feels like one more phone call you do not have energy for, that is worth naming. You can email us at hello@hibantcare.com or visit hibantcare.com and we will do our best to point you in the right direction, whether or not home care is what you need right now. Every carer we introduce to families has been DBS-checked and insurance-verified by us, and you meet them in person before any arrangement begins. The practical support and the human support do not have to be found separately.

Hibant

Useful links to keep handy

Looking for care or thinking of joining Hibant?

Whether you are a family navigating care for a loved one or a carer looking for fairer, more meaningful work, we would love to hear from you.

Find a carer Join as a carer
← Back to Understanding Care Questions? Get in touch