This is not medical, legal, or financial advice. Big on Health is a UK review site. For health worries, speak to your GP, pharmacist, or NHS 111. For questions about support, speak to your council or a carers’ advice service.

If you look after a relative, partner, or friend without being paid, your GP practice can only take that into account if it knows. This page explains why to tell your GP you’re a carer, what to say, and how to make a backup plan for days when you cannot care. It is not a care agency, and it does not assess anyone.

The NHS England guidance here applies in England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements, so ask your own GP practice how it records carers.

Why tell your GP

NHS England’s guidance on recording unpaid carers cites Carers UK figures that 30% of carers say their GP is unaware of their caring role. It says: “Identifying carers is the first step to supporting them.”

Carers UK says that if your GP knows you are a carer, the practice can:

• take into account extra pressures on your physical health or emotional wellbeing;
• refer you to local support networks, or to specialists such as occupational therapists or continence advisers;
• help you understand what you may be entitled to as a carer, such as a free flu jab;
• provide supporting letters to show your caring role, which can help with certain benefits.

In England, NHS England recommends that GP practices use a consistent set of codes for unpaid carers. Alongside codes showing that someone provides unpaid care, the set includes one for a carer who has a contingency or emergency plan, and one for someone who is no longer a carer. NHS England says this helps practices identify young carers and monitor carer contingency planning.

What to say at the practice

• Say that you look after someone without being paid, and ask the practice to record it on your medical record. Carers UK suggests doing this as soon as possible, and has a letter template.
• If you book appointments or speak to health staff for the person you look after, ask about consent forms. Many practices use them to show you have that person’s permission.
• Ask about home visits if caring makes it hard to get to the surgery, and about “double” appointments so you are both seen on one visit.
• If you have a backup plan, say so. Tell the practice when things change, including if you stop caring.

The government’s Unpaid Carers Action Plan for England, published on 14 July 2026, says a new MyCarer section is planned for the NHS App, so people can indicate that they look after someone and manage things such as appointments and prescriptions for them. Its timetable gives NHS App transformation by 2028, with proxy access by 2027. For now, tell your practice directly.

What a backup (contingency) plan covers

NHS England describes carer contingency plans as being for a situation where an unpaid carer cannot care, or where the level of care needs adjusting. Carers UK advises all carers to make one, and offers an online tool called MyBackUp to help.

Carers UK suggests bringing together:

• the name, address, and contact details of the person you look after;
• who you both would like contacted in an emergency;
• their medication and where it is stored, any ongoing treatment, and any allergies;
• their GP and pharmacy;
• any care and support services they receive;
• continence products and who supplies them;
• mobility needs and aids, such as a wheelchair or hoist;
• anything about their behaviour that others need to know.

Talk the plan through with the person you look after, if you can, and with your emergency contacts. Carers UK suggests sharing it with trusted family, friends, and healthcare professionals, telling them where to find it, and setting a reminder to review it.

Some areas run emergency carer card schemes, often through the council or a local carers’ centre. Your local carers’ organisation can tell you.

If the plan needs paid help

Family and friends may cover some gaps, but informal arrangements can fall through, so Carers UK suggests involving your local council too. If you cannot organise alternative care, it says to contact your local authority or health care provider. It also says every carer who has an assessment should be asked about emergencies and offered help to plan for them. See Carer’s assessments in the UK.

Some families line up paid help in advance, so the plan names a person rather than a gap. See Respite care in the UK and Finding a private carer in the UK.

Questions to ask

• Can you record on my medical record that I am an unpaid carer?
• Do I need a consent form to book appointments or speak to you for the person I look after?
• Can you note that I have a carer contingency or emergency plan?
• What local carers’ support, or emergency carer card scheme, can you point me to?
• Could you provide a letter confirming my caring role if I need one?

Sources

• NHS England: Coding for unpaid carers: SNOMED CT (last updated 8 September 2026). Read 5 Oct 2026.
• NHS England: Carer contingency planning: recommendations for integrated care systems. Read 5 Oct 2026.
• GOV.UK: Unpaid carers action plan: recognise, refer, reach (published 14 July 2026). Read 5 Oct 2026.
• GOV.UK: Unpaid carers action plan, full text. Read 5 Oct 2026.
• Carers UK: Talking to your GP. Read 5 Oct 2026.
• Carers UK: Creating a contingency plan. Read 5 Oct 2026.
• Carers UK: Getting help in an emergency. Read 5 Oct 2026.

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