Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member considered a report which sought approval to enter into an eight-week consultation with stakeholders on the draft respite policy.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the draft Respite Policy for consultation with stakeholders for a period of 56 days (8 weeks).

2. To report back to Cabinet on the responses to the consultation undertaken and for a decision on the proposed Respite Policy.

Reasons for decision

Haringey Council is committed to supporting carers, young carers and the cared for person to access the right respite care in a way that supports carers, contributes to outcomes for the cared for person and aligns with the Borough Plan. The Council is also committed to closer integration between health and social care. The policy outlined Haringey Council and Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group’s approach to respite care which had the aim of maintaining or improving carers’ well-being and, in line with the Care Act 2014, the Children and Families Act 2014 and The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS- funded Nursing Care 2012 treating carers and the cared for person equivalently.

Haringey Council and Haringey CCG recognised the significant contribution that carers – whether family members, young carers or parent carers – made to the care of those with a range of needs who are thereby able to remain living at home for longer, preventing the need for institutionally based care for as long as possible.

The current council arrangements for respite care did not rest upon a single clearly stated policy position. Current practice was inconsistent with local variations in different service areas.

The CCG also did not have a single clearly stated policy position.

The aim of a single respite policy was to clearly set out and define what respite care was and was not, to provide a clear pathway for identifying need and the provision of respite and to set out how charging applied to respite thereby providing clarity and consistency for all carers and cared for across Haringey.

Alternative options considered

Alternative options considered were separate respite policies for children, adults, health and social care. This option was not taken forward as this would have been a missed opportunity to encourage joined up working across service boundaries.

The contents of the Policy reflected the wider strategic aims of the Council to give all children the best start in life and empower all adults to live healthy, long and fulfilling lives and also to contribute to the closer integration of health and social care. The option of maintaining the current model for respite was not considered to meet these wider strategic aims due to the lack of consistency across service areas.