# Carers: what you can do and UK carer support (breast cancer)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/carers-breast-cancer-uk/  
OnCo record `carers-breast-cancer-uk` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A carer is anyone giving unpaid help to someone with cancer who could not manage without it; you can come to appointments, keep the medicine list and the 24-hour number, learn the sepsis and immune-reaction signs, tell the team you are the carer, and ask the council for a free carer's assessment.

## Summary

Macmillan says you are a carer if you give any unpaid help to someone with cancer who could not manage without it, that driving to appointments counts, to tell the healthcare team you are a carer so you can be part of the plans for going home, and to look after your own wellbeing. The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation advises listening without cheerleading, categorising the jobs and asking friends and family for specific help, and taking even 20 minutes a day for yourself. For this cancer the practical jobs are keeping a thermometer and the 24-hour number to hand, knowing the temperature rule and the 999 signs, and watching for the immune-related symptoms on the alert card. The NHS says any carer over 18 can have a free carer's assessment from the council and that Carer's Allowance is £86.45 a week for 35 or more hours of care. This is orientation from public patient pages and guidelines, not advice for your case: your own team's instructions and 24-hour number come first.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: caregiver; caring for someone with breast cancer

## Sources

- Macmillan: looking after someone with cancer: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/supporting-someone/looking-after-someone-with-cancer
- Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation: caregivers: https://tnbcfoundation.org/living-with-tnbc/caregivers
- NHS: carer's assessments: https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/support-and-benefits-for-carers/carer-assessments/
- NHS: benefits for carers: https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/support-and-benefits-for-carers/benefits-for-carers/
- Macmillan: sepsis: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/impacts-of-cancer/sepsis

## Connected records

- cancers: [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- terms: [Emotional support and helplines (UK)](https://onco.cc/terms/emotional-support-cancer-uk/), [Febrile neutropenia](https://onco.cc/terms/febrile-neutropenia/), [Immune-related adverse events (irAEs)](https://onco.cc/terms/irae/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/carers-breast-cancer-uk.json