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Tips for carers on getting organised

Having the right information at your fingertips can be useful. Here are some things you could consider to help you get organised:

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Find out more about caring for a person affected by cancer on our Cancerbackup site.

Download 'Hello, how are you?' [PDF, 1.3mb], our guide for carers.

Find out about Carers Rights Day, 2008.

carer with a person affected by cancer
  • Increasingly there will be one person who is the main point of contact for you and the person you are caring for. Professionals may call this person your ‘key worker’.
  • Programme all useful telephone numbers (such as your key worker, district nurse, GP, cancer ward and local hospice) into your home and mobile phones, and note down the name of receptionists.
  • Keep a notebook with details of every visit to hospital or from any health or social care professional at home.
  • Use a file to keep all leaflets and information sheets, appointment details and so on, together in one place.
  • It may be useful to keep a record of blood test or X-ray appointments and their results. This will make it easier to query any oversights.
  • Make sure your GP knows you are caring for someone. You need to tell them this, even if you and the person you are caring for are registered at the same practice.

Out of hours care

  • Make sure you know the out of hours arrangements for your key health professionals. Check with them who you should contact, and how, in case of an emergency. It may be best to avoid going to Accident and Emergency unless you are advised to do so.
  • Make sure the telephone numbers you need are always to hand, either programmed into your phone or taped to the refrigerator.
  • Call the cancer ward at the hospital if you are worried. If they are not able to help, try your local hospice who may be able to advise you on where to seek help.
  • If you are concerned about a developing condition, symptoms or changes, don’t let it go beyond the middle of the week without alerting the relevant health professional. If it is left until close to the weekend it will be more difficult to sort out. There is only a small proportion of specialist palliative care out of hours support services at the moment.
  • Try and anticipate problems that may come up out of hours so you can discuss them with health professionals during the working day.