Agenda item

[Report of the Interim Deputy Chief Executive. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Culture.]Report outlining the future design of services for young people leaving care in Haringey and the Care Leavers Strategy agreed with local partners.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health introduced the report, which presented the Respite Care Policy, following public consultation for approval. The Policy set out how the Council and the CCG would move towards a consistent and equitable way of supporting people in the provision of respite across health and social care. It provided clarity for all carers, users of all ages and practitioners to ensure that those with eligible needs receive the appropriate respite support.

A response was provided to Cllr Carter in relation to his query on paragraph 11.2 of the policy document.

RESOLVED

1.    To consider and take into account the feedback from the consultation undertaken which is set out at 6.6 and in Appendix 3;

2.    To consider and take into account the equalities impact assessment of the proposals on protected groups at Appendix 2;

3.    To approve the Respite Care Policy, to take effect from 1^st April 2018 attached at Appendix 1.

Reasons for decision

The Council and CCG are 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 Corporate Plan. The Council and CCG are also committed to closer integration between health and social care. This policy outlines Haringey Council and Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group’s approach to respite care which has the aim of maintaining or improving adults and carers’ well-being and, in line with the Care Act 2014, the Children Act 1989 and The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS- funded Nursing Care 2012.

The Council and CCG recognise the significant contribution that carers – whether family members, young carers or parent carers – make 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 Council’s current arrangements for respite care do not rest upon a single clearly stated policy position. Current practice is inconsistent with local variations in different service areas.

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

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

Alternative options considered

Alternative options considered were to continue with separate approaches to 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 reflect 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.