AQO 1129/22-27 Oral question to the Minister of Health
To ask the Minister of Health whether he will change the relevant procedures to enable multi-use sites, containing both short-term respite and residential beds, to expand provision of respite services.
Asked by John Blair MLA on 7 November 2024
- Answered
- Oral
- Answered in the Chamber
- Tabled
- 7 November 2024
- Answer due by
- 18 November 2024
- Answered
- 18 November 202411 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Health
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Answered in the Assembly Chamber on 18 November 2024. Extract from the Official Report (Hansard), including any supplementary questions:
Mr Nesbitt
Members will be aware that the health and social care trusts have responsibility for commissioning and delivering services for children and adults, aligned to assessed needs. Respite or short-break care is defined as the provision of regular, occasional or emergency but time-limited breaks to those who are caring for others. Statutory and independent-sector care homes facilitate planned and emergency short breaks for adults. In addition, short breaks are provided through the Shared Lives service. Currently, in adult services, there are a number of multi-use sites containing short-term respite and residential or nursing beds. That model has been utilised in order to expand the provision of respite services. My Department is leading on the reform of adult social care under the auspices of the social care collaborative forum. The commissioning and contracting work stream is taking forward the review of the regional care homes contract and specification, which will include provision for respite places in the care home setting. The maximising capacity work stream is working to make most effective use of the available regional care home resource. In children's social care services, short breaks can be provided through hospitals, children's homes and specialist foster care settings. My Department is leading on the children's social care reform programme established in response to Professor Ray Jones's review. The reform programme contains a specific work stream in relation to residential care of children, including the provision of short breaks. There is a specific task and finish group, which is considering the introduction of multisite children's homes. By that, I mean an arrangement where children are cared for across a number of buildings that are collectively registered as a single children's home. Both of those work streams will conclude their specific pieces of work by March 2025.
Mr Blair
I thank the Minister for that answer. Further to that, will he respond to parents who have confirmed that their children are being sent out of Northern Ireland to access respite care? A response to a question for written answer from my colleague Nuala McAllister stated that that was not departmental policy. In addition, given the conversation that we had earlier about the £13 million that is available, how might that be used to address that issue across all trust areas?
Mr Nesbitt
I thank the Member for his follow-up question. With his permission, I will go away and test the question of policy. Certainly, from my point of view, sending somebody out of the jurisdiction would have to be an act of absolute last resort. I hope that the availability from 1 April of a new £13 million fund for this area will go a long way towards making sure that that never happens again. The fact that it does not happen would be my number-one objective in providing that sort of care.
Dr Aiken
Is the Minister able to provide an update on the initiatives that his Department has taken to improve access to dental care in the Northern and Western Trusts? That is just to keep the Speaker happy.
Mr Nesbitt
Dental care?
Mr Speaker
Dr Aiken, I will call you for question 7. I call Cara Hunter to ask the initial question first. You are ahead of yourself [Laughter.]