The expanded pilot – which launched in October 2016 – encourages pharmacists to identify individuals who are caring for others, and refer them to receive financial help or respite from their caring duties.

Forty six pharmacies across the south eastern local commissioning group area have since signed up to the scheme (see a full list of pharmacies here).

Philip Boyle, community pharmacist at Crossgar Pharmacy, County Down, said he has personally referred 15 carers to receive a carers assessment through the Community Pharmacy Carers Support Scheme .

About one-third of the people referred via the pilot have been male, Mr Boyle claimed, a group who are normally “very, very hard to reach and get into these schemes”.

"We’re always very good at looking after the cared-for person, but not always good at looking after the people providing the care," he told C+D last Friday (June 16).

"Even my parents are on the scheme"

The south eastern local commissioning group – which has allocated funding for the pilot "for the year" – said "caring responsibilities can include managing medication, keeping someone safe, taking someone to appointments, managing finances, personal care or household tasks".

Mr Boyle – whose elderly parents are both receiving support under the scheme – said "social isolation is a big problem for carers".

"In the network [my mother] is now in, she’s getting to see her peers again and getting her life back."

Pharmacist Patricia Finnegan said: "We see the difficulties faced by carers first hand on a daily basis. Carers can trust the pharmacist to deal with them in a confidential and empathetic manner."

Mr Boyle said by March, around 32 referrals had been made through the pilot scheme, and there is scope to extend the service further.

"It started in 2014 in County Down only for [carers of people with mental health problems]. Now it is getting some public press, it’s starting to snowball."