Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, who sits on the Children, Schools and Families Committee, said GPs must take more responsibility for spotting young carers and ensuring they get the help they need.
Speaking at a committee session looking at children who slip ‘under the radar' and are not known to schools or other children's services, Hodgson said: "Surely GPs can put two and two together when they see patients and get help for child carers."
Jo Aldridge, head of the Young Carers Research Group at Loughborough University, agreed.
"We have found that GPs don't see it as their role to ask parents who, for instance, have mental health problems, what the impact is on their children," she said. "They say they only have two minutes per patient."
Aldridge added that it would only take a matter of minutes to ask patients about their children and then make a phone call referring them if necessary.
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