There's a petition on the Prime Minister's website about making sure that Carers' Respite money (£150 million) actually goes to carers - instead of being lost in the general NHS budget:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/pct-carersbreaks/#detail

Done

done

At times like this I wish I swore......

Response to PCT carers breaks petition

In June 2008, the Government published a new carers strategy, Carers at the heart of 21st century families and communities, which can be viewed on the Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk. The strategy recognises the need for change so that carers experience a system that works better for them and those they support.

The Government made £255 million of new spending commitments as part of the strategy. This includes £150 million to fund breaks for carers, £38 million to support carers to enter or re-enter the job market and £6 million towards improving support for young carers.

Funding is also made to local authorities through the Carers Grant, which currently stands at £240 million a year. This funding will enable them to support carers with breaks and other services and is in addition to funding of over a billion pounds paid to councils since 1999. As part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment process, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and local authorities are working in partnership to publish joint plans, which should include provision for breaks for carers.

The £150 million for short breaks is being included in PCTs’ allocations between 2009 and 2011: £50 million is being provided in 2009/10 and £100 million will be provided in 2010/11. These extra resources can be used to support all carers and have been highlighted in the NHS Operating Framework for 2009/10.

PCTs have the flexibility to invest their resources as they see fit in the light of local circumstances as well as the priorities set out in the NHS Operating Framework.

The NHS Vital Signs framework allows local NHS organisations to monitor progress against national priorities and informs operational plans. The Vital Signs framework is made up of three tiers: tier 1 sets out a small number of ‘must do’s, tier 2 sets out national priorities for local delivery, and tier 3, in which the carers’ indicator falls, provides indicators from which PCTs can choose and target action and effort for improvement.

PCTs have been asked to publish their performance against all of the Vital Signs, regardless of whether they have chosen an area for improvement. This will include their performance during 2008/09 against the indicator on carers’ support. These reports will give local partners, stakeholders and members of the community an opportunity to consider the provision of support to carers and inform the priorities selected by PCTs and their partners for action during 2010/11.

The Department of Health is not involved in performance management of tier 3 of the Vital Signs framework. However, the Department has asked Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) to work with PCTs that perform comparatively poorly on tier 3 indicators to ensure that their plans are sufficiently ambitious. The Department’s Directors of NHS Performance and Adult Social Care Performance are writing to SHAs to identify which PCTs have agreed with their local authority to prioritise carers’ support for the current year and those that are likely to prioritise it for the next year. This information will ensure that the Government is fully informed when considering the priority afforded to carers in future planning rounds.

More generally, the Department of Health has supported the publication of guidance for NHS and social care commissioners on services for carers, which was developed with carers organisations and key NHS and local authority bodies. The guidance can be viewed on the www.idea.gov.uk website by searching for ‘commissioning for carers’. This document will assist commissioners in understanding how the needs of carers may be effectively identified and met. The Department will seek to publicise the guidance as widely as possible.

Finally, in August Care Services Minister Phil Hope announced the selection of Demonstrator Sites on better NHS support for carers, health and well-being checks for carers and the provision of more effective breaks for carers. These sites will help us develop a sound evidence base about how the NHS and local authorities can effectively support carers in their caring role and improve their health outcomes as well as those of the people for whom they care.

Just wait till the local authority have the cash from the Attendance allowance and Disability Living allowance, that will just be soaked up by the bureacracy within the town halls , they will have on average some £55 to spend per person per week over the age of 65 to be cared for at home, what a joke what can they do for £55 per week its about 3 hours care.


the government have lost the plot look at all the agencies that are there to help us my god there must be dozens of them, what is a short break ? to me a short break is a couple of weeks to them a couple of hours and as i was told it`s only for working carers , i was informed that i am not a working carer and therefore do not qualify for help.

bonkers the lot of them

I was advised to have a carer's assessment done in order that I may apply for respite funding and funding to help pay for things to help me in my carer's role ie. a new set of ramps for the car. I haven't heard anything about respite funding or how I might get any. Fat chance is there?

Make the application anyway, Fran.

As for the response - pure governmental teflon.

Short summary of government response:

Quote:

"We don't know where the money went either. So b*gger off"

Absolutely disgraceful. I live in Scotland, so my MP isn't involved, but if I were in England I would be burning effigies of Phil Hope over this issue, it stinks.

I just checked the vital signs of this government, and sadly, there was no pulse, no backbone, and a total absence of brain activity. Roll on May 2010 ... and bye bye Blair's Babes.

It's the old postcaode lottery with a twist. This one is a PCT lottery. I got info about breaks for carers, very small paragraph on a fact sheet saying they were available but only if you fit the criteria as the funds for this were limited. It didn't say where the funds had come from, only it was a new scheme.

I get confused as to why the funding is given to health, surely its Social Services who arrange respite?