The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the charity Healthwatch are calling for feedback from unpaid carers.

Unpaid carers have played a greater role than ever before in supporting people with their care needs, an incredible contribution in the fight against Covid.

Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC, said: “There are 6.5 million unpaid carers in England and their voices are extremely powerful. We are incredibly grateful that many carers have already shared their experiences of what care is like when delivered in their own home, in care homes, hospitals and GPs – good and bad – this is vital intelligence to CQC and really does make a difference. By the end of December we carried out over 1900 risk-based inspections using vital intelligence, including from carers and members of the public. I’d like to make a plea that carers continue to talk to us about what care is like as they are our eyes and ears on the ground.“

Research undertaken by CQC and Healthwatch as part of their Because We All Care campaign has shown that unpaid carers are already more likely than the general population to provide feedback on health and social care experiences on behalf of loved ones, with 67% reporting they give positive feedback on care.

In addition, 58% of carers also said they will be more likely to provide positive feedback on care after the coronavirus pandemic. The research also found that unpaid carers are significantly more likely to have taken action to improve health and social care (71%) than the rest of the population (44%).

Sir Robert Francis, CEO of Healthwatch England, said: “Unpaid carers are the backbone of our health and social care systems and their commitment and compassion have never been more vital. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on both them and those they care for whilst prompting a huge rise in the number of people taking on caring roles, ranging from shopping for food and collecting medicine to providing emotional support.