What are we trying to do?
We are examining how informal caregiving responsibilities shape individuals’ interactions with the health and care system.

 

Why is this important?
Informal carers are a crucial yet often overlooked group, providing essential support to people with long-term health needs. While the health impacts of caregiving on carers are well documented, much less is known about carers’ own use of healthcare and whether the services they receive adequately address their needs. This gap matters: if carers’ health needs go unmet, the sustainability of the care they provide may also be at risk.

 

How are we doing it?
We plan to draw on large-scale data from the:

 

• GP Patient Survey (2018–2022): 2.9 million respondents in England, enabling us to examine differences in GP use and consultation experiences between carers (by caregiving intensity) and non-carers.
• English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) linked to hospital records: allowing us to track how caregiving influences the use of secondary healthcare (such as urgent and emergency care) over time.

 

What have we found so far?
Compared with non-carers, informal carers are:

 

1. less likely to report that their healthcare needs are met during GP consultations
2. more likely to have seen a GP in the past 3, 6, and 12 months
3. these patterns are most pronounced among high-intensity carers (those providing more hours of care each week).

 

More information

 

Senior Programme Lead
Mike Spence
Michael.spence@manchester.ac.uk