The New Mental Health Act: Rights of Carers - information for people who care for a service user

3 Who is a carer?

Carers can be spouses, relatives, friends or neighbours and may not even recognise themselves as carers. Care provided by informal carers is often an essential part of the total care received by a person with a mental illness, learning disability or other mental disorder. General moves to provide more mental health care and treatment in community settings increase the already important role of carers and highlight the need for carers to be given effective support.