Dorset carers are to be recognised and supported while their cared-for person is in hospital.

Dorset County Hospital, Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust have come together, with the support of local carers and other carer professionals, to create an ‘Our Dorset’ Hospital Carer Passport.

This new scheme meets one of the recommendations made by Healthwatch Dorset in a recent report on carers’ experiences of supporting loved ones leaving hospital to recover at home – a process called Home First.

Louise Bate, Healthwatch Dorset manager, said: “Learning from people’s experiences and feedback is key to developing and improving health and care services. We shared carers’ feedback with NHS Dorset along with ideas for improvement to help with the redesign of the Home First service. We’re delighted that the Hospital Carer Passport is being introduced to make sure carers’ needs are recognised and supported more effectively while they are caring for someone in hospital. This shows just how important it is for people to share their feedback with us – working together we really can make a positive difference to health and care.

“For Carers Rights Day on 24 November, we want to reach out to young carers in Dorset to offer information and support. Watch our new video on https://vimeo.com/773367128 created with students from Bournemouth University, to hear some young carers talk about their experiences and the importance of seeking support.”

Although each hospital’s passport offer may differ, the Carer Passport scheme includes: flexibility with visiting times; inclusion in care; inclusion to assist at mealtimes; involvement in discussing and planning for discharge and access to information about patient care (with relevant consent).

A Hospital Carer Passport encourages hospital staff to have ‘carer conversations’ to ensure carers are involved and supported in their cared-for person’s care from admission through to discharge. For this reason, Carer Passports are non-transferrable from hospital to hospital.

Mark, a carer, said: “Communication is the key challenge to face, or rather, lack of communication. Getting the message across to the medical specialists about the particular needs and wants of the patient’s medical needs is so important. We need staff to realise every patient is individual and no one has all the answers, but they can listen to us as a carer. I’m not a medical professional but I am a reasonable expert in my own wife.”