MORE must be done to help look after the thousands of unpaid carers in the county with the number of those aged 65 and over increasing.

Director for Public Health, Dr Jonathan McWilliam said it was 'essential' that authorities work with unpaid carers to help them stay healthy for longer.

In his Annual Public Health Report, Dr McWilliam highlighted a 'cocktail' of health factors which are piling pressure on the county's health services including obesity, mental wellbeing and an ageing population.

The latter has resulted in more carers entering old age themselves which could, if measures are not put in place, threaten to put even more strain on the health and social services once they become too old or incapable of looking after their loved ones.

According to figures from Carers UK, there are 6.5million unpaid carers in the UK that save the health and social care services around £132 billion a year.

In the report Dr McWilliam said: “As a society we are heavily reliant on the ability of carers to care. "Looking after their wellbeing remains a high priority. Continuing to work with this group to help them stay healthy for longer is essential.”

There are around 60,000 Oxordshire residents who provide unpaid care for others, of whom around 17,000 provide more than 20 hours a week.

Many of the carers, however, are over 65 and are suffering from ill health themselves - around 35 per cent of those said they had seen their GP because of their caring role.

He added: "I think carers are another important group in this cocktail of issues we have to deal with.

“Many of us are carers, many of us help to look after our next door neighbours or other people.

“It’s important that we promote that role and we say how important it is.

“What we need to do is take sensible account of that as a factor, know about it in advance, and plan for it accordingly.

“And we can only do that by working together.”

Head of carers support services at Carers Oxfordshire, Kay Francis, said one in 10 people over the age of 85 provide care - that figure is expected to double over the next 20 years.

However she said many did not recognise their roles as a carer making it difficult for authorities to offer support.

She said: "It's so important that they receive help but the problem is a lot of carers don't identify themselves as carers.

"A lot of people will just think 'oh, I'm just looking after my wife, or my parents' not actually realising the number of hours they spend caring for them."

Ms Francis said a new GP referral service was launched in February putting the organisation in touch with more unpaid carers, however, she said there were still many more who had been identified."

She added: "I think in reality, when you look at how much they save the authorities, our health and social care services just wouldn't be able to function without them.

We need to support our carers to help support our health and social care system going forward."

To contact Carers Oxfordshire call 0345 0507666

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said it was a 'national issue requiring a national response'.

He added: “The council has included demographic demands on its adult social services in its budget planning for more than a decade – not something that every council has done.

“We will continue to do that as well as seeking to innovate to meet demand by using technology and working very closely with those who receive social care in the design of services.”