Resources

As a professional, you are likely to work with or support carers even if you don’t know who they are. 

There are several resources in these pages, but please do get in touch if what you need is not here.  

Top tips for professionals: 

• Access our free training to develop your skills and understanding.   

• Explore our Start here page so you have helpful information when talking to carers about registering with York Carers Centre and asking for a Carers Assessment of Need, getting practical help, and finding someone to talk to. 

• Sign up to receive our e-bulletin.
• Encourage carers to simply register with York Carers Centre early so they get information before they reach crisis – they don’t have to need anything right now to register. 

Things to remember: 

• Understand how important your role is in helping unpaid carers to recognise themselves as carers and access any support they may need. This may be clients or patients, but it may also be colleagues. 

• Don’t forget about young/young adult carers – ask ‘who supports you at home’. 

• Signpost for support and have information on display in waiting areas. 

• Tell carers about their entitlement to a Carers Assessment of Need. 

• Be understanding of the issues carers might face. There is a lot of evidence about the health inequalities carers face: 

• • that they may need longer appointments 

• • they may want to tell you information about the person they care for so you can better understand what treatment might be required or what’s really going on at home 

• • that carers often ignore their own health needs; nobody asks them how they are or offers them a health check or even sees how much they might be struggling – a simple – ‘how are you coping’ or ‘I see you have a lot on your plate’ can mean such a lot, just to be noticed. 

• • carers as patients too – many have their own conditions so might be finding it hard to manage that alongside a caring role. 

• • be flexible – eg evening appointments for those working and caring or allowing staff to work flexibly where possible. 

We can provide you with posters and leaflets so that carers can access relevant information and see that you are a carer friendly organisation. Please email us on enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk if you would like our leaflets, posters or updated information. 

Many organisations have a Carer Champion, who leads on carers in their organisation. If this is something you would like to discuss please get in touch.   

We would welcome you to get in touch to discuss any ideas on how we can support you in your role and work together to support carers. 

We work closely with many schools in York and run network meetings to help them raise awareness and identify young carers. In mainstream secondary schools we hold monthly drop ins and provide schools with assemblies and lesson plans as well as staff training, sample policies and resources.

Young carers are also issued with a school card which they can use to show staff they are a young carer. If you are a school and would like support from the Young Carers Team to develop your offer, please get in touch.

Schools can also apply for a Young Carers in Schools Award. Details of how to apply can be found on here.

Several schools in York have or are working towards this, and we’d love to see all schools achieving this award in York.

It is also worth noting that you are likely to have staff who work in school who are also unpaid carers.

One document with all the headline information that Health teams need to identify, support and signpost carers in York. 

Information for professionals and carers where the cared for person is in hospital. See also our page on Caring for Someone in Hospital page.

City of York Council have signed up to Carers UK’s Employers for Carers (EfC) which enables any organisation in York to access free membership and resources. Here you can find flexible working policies, best practice and training to help you support the carers in your workplace. Register by using York’s free access code #EFC6282. This is free to organisations with fewer than 250 employees. 

If you’d like to talk to us for advice about making your workplace more supportive for carers, please get in touch. 

A national resource for professionals has been developed by Carers Trust, Carers UK and VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance. Its purpose is to support health and care systems in England to improve the inclusion, support, and involvement of unpaid carers. It brings together statutory duties and best practice resources developed by the Carers Partnership (2022–2025), to help health and care professionals reduce the health inequalities carers face, better identify unpaid carers, and drive transformative change.

Aimed mainly at mental health services but useful for all, the Triangle of Care is a quality improvement scheme for health and social care providers.   

Originally developed by carers, the scheme is run by Carers Trust and recognises healthcare providers that have committed to continuous improvement according to six key ‘carers included’ standards.

Carers Trust offers a wide range of resources and information for anyone who works with unpaid carers.   

Carers UK provides resources for anyone who works with unpaid carers.