Caring for carers: supporting people who care for their loved ones

A project with Havering council looking at the needs of informal carers. The brief was to understand if the current commissioning model was working, and how it could be improved or adjusted ahead of the introduction of the New Carers Act 2015. The project involved working with a group of informal carers at each stage of the commissioning process - from identifying needs, defining and designing solutions and delivering services. Many of the issues were around the visibility and access to services, rather than with the services themselves. We ran several workshops with carers as well as holding in-depth interviews with providers of services and social workers. Our insights led us to produce lists of recommendations of what and how services are provided; principles for easing a carer's journey through the social care system; and a set of six ideas which address these insights - helping to 'fix' the carer's experience of a journey through social care.