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You and Yours - Transcript 大象传媒 Radio 4 |
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TX: 28.03.08 - Respite Care PRESENTER: JOHN WAITE |
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Downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 大象传媒 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. WAITE The provision of short breaks or respite care for those looking after elderly or disabled relatives is something we've featured many times on the programme, most recently of course during our Care in the UK season. CLIP Social care should be given much higher priority and especially respite. So, for example, if we didn't have respite now that we've had for the last 12 months I'm not sure I would be doing this interview now because I don't think I'd be in a state where I could function properly and that would obviously have an impact on looking after Charlotte. And that's not being dramatic, that is an absolute fact because it's given us our life back. WAITE Well that was Julia, full time carer for her 12-year-old daughter Charlotte who has learning difficulties. She also helps to look after her grandmother who is blind and her mother who has Multiple Sclerosis. But for all that Julia receives just a few hours respite a month. The help is provided by her local authority but there's no legal duty for them or others to do so, that is until now. Thanks to an amendment put forward by Lord Adonis to the Children and Young Persons Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, all local authorities will soon have to provide such breaks to the parents of disabled children. Peter White asked Lord Adonis what this will mean in practice. ADONIS This amendment will require the government to establish standards which local authorities must observe in the quality of their short break provision. We're investing £400 million over the next three years, starting with 21 Pathfinder projects with a small number of local authorities to work out how we can best ensure that there is a proper short breaks provision in every locality, by year three which is 2010-2011 we will roll out the short break service nationally so that all families with disabled children that require respite care will be able to get access to it. WHITE You say this will enforce standards and that it will apply to all local authorities but there has been a concern that while it places a legal duty on local authorities to provide such breaks, it doesn't actually offer individuals legal redress if they don't and the one thing we know from our social care series is there tends to be enormous disparity from one local authority to another. ADONIS It's precisely to ensure that there is a service in each locality that we're investing this £400 million. Legal duties amount to nothing if there aren't the resources on the ground. Once that's in place of course then it's essential that parents have good access to it. WHITE And will parents have individual legal redress though if it isn't done? ADONIS There's not going to be a legal right, we actually want to see in the first instance that we get the services provided on the ground but of course there's no point in providing the services if parents don't have access to them and we will expect there to be proper access arrangements in each locality as part of the standard that we establish for these services. It's not simply respite care, in the sense of having somebody who will enable the parents to have a break, it will take the form of proper after school or holiday provision with professional groups, charities, others who actually are expert in seeing that they provide the sorts of facilities disabled young people find attractive. WHITE How are the local authorities actually going to get this money because I think it's going initially to primary care trusts and the interface between health and social services hasn't always worked as well as it might? ADONIS Some of the funding is going to primary care trusts through the National Health Service but all of the £400 million goes to local authorities and is ring fenced only for services for disabled children. Now for government to ring fence funding in this way is very unusual because of course normally government simply gives large block grants to local authorities and leaves it to them. WHITE Because also in our social care series what we very much established was that there was an enormous need for this not just for children but for sons and daughters, relatives and friends looking after frail patients, is this establishing a principle? ADONIS Well I can only make one commitment at a time and I think everyone in this area recognises that this is a huge step forward. But does society owe a real obligation to those in stressful caring positions? Of course it does and we have to look at our responsibilities in each of these areas. WAITE Lord Adonis talking there to Peter. Back to the You and Yours homepage The 大象传媒 is not responsible for external websites |
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