Engagement on our new Carers and Young Carers Strategy

We asked

We asked for your views on the support services on offer for unpaid carers in Barnet. Through pro-active engagement with residents and community organisations, our aim was to co-produce a shared vision for carers in Barnet.

You said

We received 270 responses to the online survey. A further 30 carers and young carers were engaged via remote and in-person focus groups, led by Barnet Carers Centre.

Feedback from the above co-production and engagement activity has informed the development of our new Carers Strategy.

Key themes from the survey feedback are as follows:

carers have struggled during the pandemic - often not being informed when there is a change to the care and support of the cared for person (e.g., plan for the reopening of day opportunities)
the majority of respondents to the survey have reported caring for over 10 years and spend over 21 hours a week on average in their caring role
young carers often take on huge amounts of responsibility and need support to balance competing responsibilities and demands. Priorities for young people included pursuing their education, timely mental health and wellbeing support as well as time for themselves and socialising
carers value activities that enable them to have regular breaks from their caring responsibilities to support balancing their caring roles with their own personal lives and interests
parent carers have emerged as a prominent carers group.

We did

The co-production and engagement feedback will be included in the new Carers Strategy 2023 – 2028 and have informed the new priorities and outcomes in the strategy. The next step is to translate this strategy into action so that it makes a real and lasting difference to the health and wellbeing of carers of all ages.

A Carers and Young Carers Strategy Implementation board will be developed to have oversight of strategy implementation including the action plan. Actions to deliver the strategy will be informed by feedback and recommendations from carers.

We will be publishing the new Carers Strategy and carrying out another round of consultation in February 2023.