Carers ‘being failed by the NHS’

Carers operating in the UK are not receiving the level of support they need from the NHS, it has been claimed.

According to spending data accessed under the Freedom of Information Act by the Princess Royal Care Trust and Crossroads Care, 1.5 million of the UK’s six million carers spend over 50 hours a week looking after their relatives, the BBC reports.

Overall, data gathered from 130 of the 152 trusts in England shows that 80 per cent of the funds allocated for support services are not being spent in 2009.

Norman Lamb, a Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: “The government should be ashamed of its failure to provide the help they promised to carers.

“Many people across the country are in desperate need of this support.”

Meanwhile, a poll conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons found that two-thirds of doctors operating in the UK believe that the current 48-hour limit on their working hours is harmful to patient care.