Improvement 14: Unpaid carers to be able to access a break from their caring role
Progress Update
Information from the Feedback Event held on 22/03/10:
-
Carers are identified in the Primary Care Trust (PCT) 5 Year Plan
-
How ‘breaks for carers’ will be delivered will be identified in the Carers Strategy
-
Money is committed but not in this financial year
-
Newcastle City Council and the PCT should be working together on this issue and involve carers in the discussions
-
Newcastle LINk has sent a Freedom of Information request to the PCT asking a number of questions on this issue to which they will receive a formal response and share this information with Newcastle Citizens Assembly and other organisations.
Support from organisations/agencies:
-
The Carers Strategy can not stand on its own – it should help identify what carers want or need
-
Newcastle City Council has not had a lead officer in post for 6 months so when the post is filled it should help move things forward
-
The importance of services such as child minding, befriending services and support with relationship issues are important
-
Demand for respite for carers will always outstrip what is available
-
Funders need to be creative with the provision of respite and look at what has been successful/best practice learning
-
A group needs to be set up to decide how to spend the money when it is made available
Next Steps:
-
A group has been set up to feed issues into the Carers Strategy Group
-
Examples of best practice from other areas need to be identified and fed into the group
-
There is a commitment in the PCT 5 year plan but there is an issue over time scales because people are in desperate situations now
-
Carers need to be involved in the process!