Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support NHS staff who are also unpaid carers.

There are a number of initiatives in place to help support National Health Service staff who are balancing their jobs with caring responsibilities. Sections 33 and 34 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service (Agenda for Change) Handbook sets out the provisions required to support staff who have caring responsibilities for children and adults. These provisions were negotiated and agreed with trade unions. Further information on the handbook is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/tchandbook

This includes the requirement for employers to have a local policy in place which emphasises the benefits of balancing work and personal life, staff rights to request flexible working arrangements, and for employers to reasonably consider any such requests.

NHS England provides policy and guidance to support unpaid workers and includes the National Flexible Working People Policy Framework that sets out the right for everyone to request flexible working from day one of employment. This framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-flexible-working-people-policy-framework/#:~:text=What%20is%20flexible%20working.%20In%20the%20NHS%20everyone%20has%20the

Additional support for unpaid carers also includes special leave policies which enable staff to take emergency leave for caregiving responsibilities at short notice. NHS staff are able to access the Carer Passport Scheme which helps identify staff as carers to ensure support and reasonable adjustments are put in place. Further information on the scheme is available at the following link:

https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/guides-and-tools/what-is-the-carer-passport-scheme/#:~:text=A%20Carer%20Passport%20is%20a%20record%20that%20identifies

There are also flexible retirement options in place to allow carers to reduce their hours or take phased retirement. NHS England also committed to and promoted the five days of unpaid carers' leave allowance stipulated in the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, which came into force on 6 April 2024.