Carer's leave for NHS staff

One in three NHS staff carries caring responsibilities. Two layers of rights apply: the statutory week of unpaid carer's leave everyone has, and your trust's own carers policy, which is often more generous — many trusts offer paid carer's days, emergency leave, and a “carer's passport”.

The NHS layer on top

• Trust carers policies commonly provide 1–5 paid carer/emergency days a year. Check your intranet for “carers leave policy” or ask HR — the paid days come first, saving the statutory week for planned care.
• The Carer's Passport (an NHS England-endorsed scheme) records your caring situation once, so agreed flexibilities travel with you across rotations, wards and managers without re-explaining.
• Emergency time off for dependants — the separate statutory right to reasonable unpaid time for genuine emergencies (a fall, a hospital admission, care arrangements collapsing) sits alongside all of the above.
• Flexible working from day one — AfC staff can make statutory flexible-working requests from day one, and NHS People Plan guidance tells trusts to lean towards yes for carers.

Using the statutory week well

Notice is short — 3 days for a single day, twice the length for a block — and comes in half-day units, which suits hospital appointments. Your trust can postpone once for serious disruption but must offer a date within a month, in writing, within 7 days. The right protects you from any detriment for using it.