St Luke's Hospice is committed to identifying and addressing the needs of carers of all patients in contact with our services. Carers often overlook their own needs and wellbeing with some experiencing poor health because of the demands of their caring role. Approximately 1 in 10 people in the UK are carers. Carers within the Hospice are offered a number of support strategies including a carer’s assessment to help identify the support, information and services they may need in their caring role. The Hospice implemented the Carers Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) in 2010

Regular audits have been carried out since with the aims of:

• Reviewing the use of the CSNAT across the organisation

• Developing a greater understanding of the issues that carers identify as needing more support with or information

• Identifying which services most frequently complete CSNATs

• Determining the frequency and nature of onward referrals as a result of the CSNAT

The most common themes which emerged from undertaking the CSNAT with carers were needs around:

• carers having time for themselves

• what they could expect in the future when caring for their relative

• knowing who to contact if they were concerned, this being of greatest relevance for carers looking after a patient at home and particularly in relation to “out of hours” contacts.

Financial/legal and work issues were cited in many of the CSNATs recorded. In one audit, 44 onward referrals were generated to over 10 different services during a 3 month period as a result of needs identified.

The poster will outline the audit findings in detail and include specific Hospice driven initiatives that contribute to an organisation wide strategy to provide support and information to carers of people with life limiting conditions.