CARERS in Devon are getting more support than ever thanks to a new campaign led by NHS Devon and Devon County Council.

GP practices, pharmacies and voluntary organisations in Devon are using new ways to find people who are caring for friends and family at home.

These include messages on prescriptions, posters in waiting rooms and newsletters giving information on how carers can get a free health and wellbeing check.

As a result of the campaign Devon is on target to provide checks for 4,000 carers by the end of March 2011.

So far the hour-long checks are available at 36 GP practices, at some pharmacies and through local health and social care teams in Barnstaple and Exmouth.

Carers' health and wellbeing checks assess physical, mental and emotional health including, where appropriate, a vascular check which assesses the risk of developing problems such as heart disease.

Rebecca Harriott, deputy chief executive of NHS Devon, said: 'Carers often put the health needs of the person they care for above their own, which can mean a delay in receiving the healthcare they need for themselves.

'This is an opportunity for carers to spend time thinking about their own health and wellbeing and to make themselves known to their GP practice.'