The file a paramedic, a new carer or a sibling can be handed
A fillable A4 PDF for families looking after a parent or grandparent at home. Ten short sections record what the family usually carries in their heads: the medicines as prescribed, the GP and pharmacy, the hospital bag, who arranged the care, where the power of attorney is, whether the alarm still works in a power cut, and who does what. Where the rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the page says so.
- 22 A4 pages with 316 fillable fields: type into it in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Apple Preview, or print it and write in it
- Ten sections: health contacts, medicines, hospital, care and support, legal arrangements, safety, warm and powered, money, the family team, visitors and keys
- Tables covering all four nations for care assessments, powers of attorney, the Herbert Protocol and benefits, plus a sources page naming the official publisher for each topic
Secure card payment by Stripe. It downloads the moment you pay, so by buying you ask for it straight away and there’s no 14-day cancellation. Terms of sale.
For the moment a stranger needs it
A paramedic, a locum GP or a new carer needs a few things fast: the medicines list, copied from the repeat slip exactly as prescribed, the allergies (written as NONE KNOWN if there are none, because a blank looks like a gap), the health number, and who to ring first. Those are the first sections, and the start page tells you to fill them in first. Next come the hospital bag checklist and the answers for the This is me hospital passport. Later, the safety section holds the details police ask for under the Herbert Protocol if someone with dementia goes missing.
One file for all four nations
Where the service or the law differs between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the page says so and names each nation's version. A needs assessment comes from the council in England, Wales and Scotland, and from the Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland. Powers of attorney are lasting in England and Wales, continuing and welfare in Scotland, and enduring in Northern Ireland, each registered with a different office. The file also notes that Northern Ireland has no welfare power of attorney yet. The Herbert Protocol is run by your local force, Police Scotland or the PSNI. In Scotland, Pension Age Disability Payment replaces Attendance Allowance, and in Northern Ireland rates help takes the place of council tax help.
Asked before it is needed
The safety and warmth pages ask the questions that are hard to answer in the moment. Does the pendant alarm still reach the monitoring centre in a power cut, now that landlines are going digital, and for how long? Is the household on the Priority Services Register with the energy supplier, the electricity network operator and the water company, and has the phone provider been told about the alarm? In Northern Ireland, the page points to the Customer Care Registers instead. Which equipment stops without power, and what is the plan for each? Are the rooms they use as warm as the NHS suggests? Then the family pages: who does what, one main contact on every form, and a page the main carer writes while they are well, for the days they are ill or away.
Look inside
Shown filled in, in a made-up household’s handwriting. Yours arrives blank, with every line ready to type into.
What’s inside
10 sections across 22 pages. Fill in what applies and skip what doesn’t.
When not to buy this
It is written around an older relative living at home. If the person you care for lives in a care home, the home keeps its own care plan and medicines records, and a sheet of family contacts may be all you need. If you only need a medicines list, the repeat prescription slip already lists the repeat medicines, and NHS hospitals publish their own hospital bag checklists for free. The Herbert Protocol form is free from your police force and the This is me hospital passport is free from Alzheimer's Society; this file holds the answers for both but replaces neither. It cannot make a power of attorney or a benefit claim. The official power of attorney pages for your nation explain how to make one, and Citizens Advice, Advice NI, Age UK and its partners, and Carers UK help check benefit entitlement for free.
Questions
Is it medical or legal advice?+
No. It records where things are and who to call. Medicines are written exactly as prescribed and never changed on the page: any change comes from the prescriber or the pharmacist, and you update the page and log it afterwards. The legal pages record which documents exist, where the originals are and which office registers them. A power of attorney is made through the official process for your nation, not in this file. Nothing in it replaces a GP, a pharmacist or a solicitor.
Where do we start, and how long does it take?+
The start page sets the order: the medicines list first, because it is the page hospitals, paramedics and pharmacists ask for first, then the health contacts, which take about ten minutes, then the safety pages. After that, a section a week, with your relative if you can, so the file stays theirs. Skip anything that does not apply. A half-finished file is far more use than none.
Should the key-safe code or bank details go in it?+
No, and the file says so wherever it comes up. Section 10 records where the key safe is and who knows the code, never the code itself. Section 05 records which bank and who may speak to them, never account numbers or PINs. The alarm page asks for the provider's client number, never a password. The printed copy is meant to be shown to a carer or an ambulance crew, so the file has to be safe to hand over.
What exactly do I get?+
A PDF file, A4, that you download straight after paying. Every line is a real form field: open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Apple Preview, type into it and save. Or print it and write by hand. We also email you a link to your downloads.
Does it work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?+
Yes. Where the rules or services differ between the four nations, the file says so and points to the right official service for each.
Will it go out of date?+
It names the official service to check rather than printing fees or amounts that change. If we update the file, your download link gives you the current version.
Can I get a refund?+
Because it downloads the moment you pay, the 14-day cancellation period doesn’t apply to digital files you’ve asked to receive straight away. If a file won’t open or something is wrong with it, email us and we’ll sort it out.
Secure card payment by Stripe. It downloads the moment you pay, so by buying you ask for it straight away and there’s no 14-day cancellation. Terms of sale.
The Care File is general information to help you organise your household’s records. It is not legal, financial or medical advice. Written by Tom Calder for PreparedBritain, an independent publisher not affiliated with HM Government.
