Richmond's local partners are standing with unpaid carers - join them today!

Unpaid carers are essential to our communities and our health and care system. Across Richmond, thousands of residents provide vital support to vulnerable people every day - often alongside work, school and other responsibilities.

At Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust (KRFT), we know that early identification and support for unpaid carers in healthcare settings is fundamental to delivering safe, effective and person-centred care.

In the past year, the trust has proven that early carer identification and support can reduce a patient’s length of stay by up to two and a half days and reduce the risk of avoidable re-admission by up to 3%.

The Trust’s Carers Clinical Liaison Service ensures that carers’ voices are embedded in discharge decisions and 73% of carers felt more confident to cope during and beyond the hospital stay. That is why we have formally adopted the Richmond Adult and Young Carers’ Charter - and why we are encouraging all organisations across the borough to do the same.

The Richmond Adult and Young Carers’ Charter provides a shared framework for organisations to recognise and value unpaid carers in our workforce and communities, improve access to support, embed carer-friendly practices, and work together to improve outcomes. Local organisations can take actions to support what adult and young carers have told us is important to them. 

KRFT’s triple pledge: Turning commitment into action

KRFT has committed to three clear, practical priorities that demonstrate how organisations can embed the charter into aspirational goals and real-world practice.

Right support at the right time

Embedding carer identification and support across community health services, not just acute settings. Ensuring carers are recognised early and supported before crisis point.

Timely and flexible access to services

Making services more accessible for carers, including flexible appointment arrangements and reasonable adjustments such as longer appointments where needed.

A carer-friendly employer

Supporting staff with caring responsibilities, promoting a carer-aware workplace culture, and ensuring policies reflect the realities of balancing work and care.

Driving real impact through improvement

KRFT’s commitment goes beyond policy - it is backed by action. The trust is delivering a Yellow Belt Quality Improvement Project focused on improving carer identification within NHS community services across Richmond, reducing avoidable hospital admissions, and strengthening carer recognition and support across integrated care pathways.

This demonstrates how organisations can take measurable, evidence-based steps to improve outcomes for carers and the people they support.

Your organisation can make a difference. Creating a truly carer-friendly borough requires collective action. By signing up to the charter, your organisation can improve accessibility and inclusivity, strengthen outcomes for residents, support staff who are carers, and be part of a borough-wide movement for change.
 
Join Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust and partners across Richmond. By pledging your organisation’s support for the charter, you are helping to raise awareness of unpaid carers of all ages, ensuring they are recognised and offered the right support at the right time.

Share this