In the months leading up to Christmas Carents Room will create, distribute and feature on 2 million medicine bags issued by 1,000 independent pharmacies across England. This initiative benefits individuals collecting medicines for their loved ones, who will be made aware of the support available at The Carents Room.

The Carents Room is a health-tech company that provides resources, insights, guides, and access to innovative products and services. It serves as a one-stop-shop for 'Carents' in need. Dr Jackie Gray launched The Carents Room in the Autumn of 2020 to help support those who care for older relatives and friends. Within the last three years, the organisation has grown with support from its partners, Northern Gas Networks and Cadent Gas, the UK Energy Innovation Centre and The Internet of Caring Things®.

A Carent® is an individual looking after elderly relatives or friends. There are around four million Carents in the UK, and research consistently shows they do not get the support they need. In their most recent report, the House of Lords Adult Social Care Committee concluded that our health and social care systems would collapse without the support of unpaid carers. It emphasised how invisible and unsupported family carers are.

Dr Jackie Gray, the founder of The Carents Room, said,

"Having spent decades researching and commissioning older person services, I firmly believe that by being more proactive about helping family carers, we can be better at helping older people stay safe and well and reduce demand on GPs and hospital services”.

Eileen Brown, a representative from Northern Gas Networks, said, “By partnering with The Carents Room, we are ‘helping the helpers’ who give their time and energy to look after others. The team at The Carents Room are doing a fantastic job of supporting families and individuals to look after loved ones, friends, and neighbours. We are particularly grateful to the team for the work they do to promote the Priority Services Register, helping us to look after customers who need a little extra help.”

With carents often collecting prescriptions for their elderly loved ones, and Age UK estimating that almost four million of those aged over 65 years are taking at least five medicines, a medicine bag was the perfect way to reach out to individuals that need it most.

The new medicine bags will now include a recommendation from The Carents Room, encouraging Carents and their elderly relatives to sign up to the Priority Services Register (PSR) free to register. The PSR allows utility companies to provide those on the list with additional help if they are without power, gas or water supply in an emergency or because of planned works.