Latest news with #respitecare
BBC News
05-08-2025
- General
- BBC News
Monksfield Hexham children's respite closure 'devastating'
The "devastating" closure of a children's respite care service has left a mother fearing it could take a year to find a replacement facility for her and her Wilkinson said 12-year-old Sarah, who has severe mental and physical disabilities, had "absolutely loved" attending Monksfield House in Hexham, Northumberland, every the charity Action For Children has said it was closing its short break service because of difficulties recruiting and retaining County Council, who had referred families to the charity, said it was "working on personalised plans of support with those who have been affected". For more than 20 years, staff at Monksfield would take disabled children for days out and overnight stays to provide respite for their families and help the youngsters experience new activities and make For Children said it was closing the service from September, but Miss Wilkinson said it was shut at the end of July."The staff there were absolutely amazing with her," she said."They would do her hair, paint her nails, them sort of things." 'Such hard work' Sarah was born with atypical Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder which affects her speech and limits her Wilkinson has three more of her children living at home and said the help from Monksfield had been "extremely valuable".Sarah used to be collected from her school in Ashington on a Friday and went to Monksfield for the weekend, before being taken back to school on Monday Wilkinson said: "It's such hard work, you don't know how hard it is when you've got a child with special needs."She thinks the impact on her daughter will be "devastating" because Sarah was "not going to be able to experience the things she was experiencing, and go out and do things".Ms Wilkinson was told it could take a year to get Sarah a place at a replacement service and could be with an operator based an hour away. Action For Children said the residential children's home, also at Monksfield, was unaffected and would remain would also run a partial short break service through the summer Conservative-led local authority added it was working with the charity to "continue to review options". Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Caring for mum is a constant worry', says Eastbourne teenager
A teenager from East Sussex is joining a protest at Parliament from home via video screens on Tuesday because his caring duties mean he cannot travel to Davis, 15, from Eastbourne, is joining unpaid carers from around the country who say planning a holiday at this time of year feels "like a pipe dream" because of a lack of respite support. A new study by the Carers Trust shows almost one in three unpaid carers rarely take a respite break with a lack of downtime leaving 60% reporting feelings of Department of Health and Social Care said it was giving billions of extra funding for unpaid carers and an independent commission had been launched to bring wider reforms. Oliver became a carer when he was eight years old after his mum Wendy collapsed unexpectedly at home, leading to open heart surgery and a mechanical heart being years later a stroke led to Wendy losing some mobility in her right hand said he had always been happy to look after his mum, but he did not realise he was a young carer for several years until someone told him that support and recognition was available."It makes a huge difference," he said."Having someone to talk to, who understands what you're going through and has an idea of what you need is really helpful."He said help could be counselling, other carers to talk to or "activities or trips which take you outside of your normal life"."It can feel constant, like it's your whole life caring sometimes," he added. "In the mornings you care, when you get home from school, you care. Having those breaks is key to living rather than just caring."Oliver said that caring didn't mean just doing the dishes, washing clothes and hoovering, as there was a "huge mental side effect as well, where you're constantly worrying about the person you care for"."It's a feeling that drags you down sometimes, that you need to be there for that person all the time," he said. "Having support really does lift that weight off you." 'Huge responsibility' His mum Wendy said Oliver was a very caring person who never complained, but she was grateful he could be supported to have some days out without her where he could "just be a kid".She added: "It's such a huge responsibility, I couldn't imagine at his age doing what he does. I'm so proud of him." Kirsty McHugh, CEO of Carers Trust, said it was "incredibly disappointing" that the UK Government still hadn't given unpaid carers a right to respite and that it "seemed to have forgotten unpaid carers" as it works to strengthen employment said: "For decades, successive governments have depended on unpaid carers to provide social care on the cheap, which has delayed the need to come up with long-term funding and support."In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We value the immense contribution of all unpaid carers. To help social care authorities support carers we are providing a funding boost of up to £3.7 billion this year – which includes help for unpaid carers."We have also increased the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold by around an extra £2,000 a year – the biggest rise since it was introduced in 1976 - and are reviewing carer's leave to see whether further help is needed."As part of wider reforms, Baroness Louise Casey has begun her work on the Independent Commission into Social Care, which will include exploring the needs of unpaid carers."
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Short break respite care saved my family,' says Harrogate parent
A single parent whose son has complex needs has thanked respite foster carers for "saving my mental health and keeping my family together". Teresa, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, said without the short breaks with carers that were organised for her youngest son Ryan, who has autism and learning disabilities, he would not have been able to continue living with her."I didn't want Ryan in care at all, I wanted to do it all myself and be a good mother, but if I hadn't had the respite foster care I wouldn't have coped to be honest," she Yorkshire Council said it was looking for dozens of new foster carers in the region. Mother-of-two Teresa, who has anxiety and depression, said she had previously felt "alone and isolated" as a parent. "I didn't have any family support, it's hard enough without a child with additional needs," she said. Fostering North Yorkshire, a not-for-profit organisation, arranged for a short breaks carer to get to know the family. Over a period of four years, the carer looked after Ryan during regular short stays, overnight and day visits."I could sleep properly, I could eat properly, things other people take for granted," Teresa said."It helped me get my energy back to be the best parent for Ryan when he came back."She added: "It restored my confidence and sense of identity - I could be Teresa again."Foster carers are given an allowance to help pay for the child's food and other requirements, but they are also usually paid fees on top, to recognise their time and Appleby, head of placement services for North Yorkshire Council, said: "We are probably looking for about 30 to 40 extra carers, specifically around short term arrangements, at any one time. "All carers are allocated a social worker to support and prepare them and the amount of time a carer offers varies - it might be once a week or more than that."She added: "We're always looking to welcome new carers into the amazing North Yorkshire foster care community." Heather Woolley, 59, who has recently started as a short breaks foster carer, said: "A child might come to me after school for a couple of hours, stay and have tea with me, or they might stay overnight and leave the next morning."Ms Woolley, who is from Scarborough and worked in special education for 16 years, said her experience made her a good match for the role."I've had positive feedback from the families as it's given them the time to spend with other siblings, which they don't normally get to do," she is no set foster carer payment as it depended on a range of factors, North Yorkshire Council said. These include how many children are being fostered, their needs and requirements and the carer's skill set."I'm here today bringing Ryan up, and I don't think that would have happened if I hadn't had this really important, valuable service," Teresa said. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
RNZ News
28-06-2025
- RNZ News
Elisabeth Nicholls not the first dementia patient rest homes have lost this year
Amy Vercoe. Photo: Miles Vercoe / supplied A man whose wife went missing from a rest home while in respite care for dementia last month is horrified to learn of Christchurch woman Elisabeth Nicholls' death . Miles Vercoe said his wife Amy Vercoe disappeared from the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village in Auckland on 10 May after wandering out of a fire escape door and walking for hours, before being found safe by police. Nicholls, 79, had dementia and vanished from Ryman's Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village in Christchurch on 4 June, hours after being admitted for respite care . She was found dead at an abandoned property on Gracefield Avenue in the central city last Sunday - just 250m from her home. Ryman said it was "terribly saddened" by the news and would work with Health NZ to look into what happened. Vercoe, speaking out after hearing about Nicholls' death, said his wife could have suffered the same fate had she not been found. Elisabeth Nicholls. Photo: Supplied / NZ police "That was an entirely possible outcome of her running away because she has Alzheimer's, she wouldn't know how to get home, how to get back to where she was, and it was late and cold. It was the consequence I was so scared of that night." Vercoe said his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's three-and-a-half-years ago. On 5 May she was admitted for respite care at the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village for what was supposed to be a week, to give him a break as her sole caregiver at their home. On her fifth night there he said he got a call from staff about 6pm saying they could not find her. "I told them to call the police. The village is in Stonefields, we live in Ōrākei, she was found in Parnell like three to four hours later, she'd walked. She's still pretty strong and fit. "She must've been walking that whole time, the distance she got and the time. She was just on a pair of sandals, she hurt her feet, she was sore for a few days, but other than that no lasting damage, compared to poor Mrs Nicholls." His wife left the rest home via a fire escape door across the hall from her room, he said. He brought her back home that night. "By the time I got her out of there I just thought, 'Oh, that's me done with them,'" he said. Vercoe said the situation was unacceptable and he lodged a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner. A letter the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village sent Vercoe on 25 June, following an investigation, said the village had been given incorrect information by the local Health NZ Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) team about the level of care Amy Vercoe required . NASC confirmed she needed rest home-level care on 16 April, the letter said - not dementia-level. "On 16 June, as part of this investigation, our team contacted the NASC team to reconfirm the assessment information regarding Mrs Vercoe's required level of care, which we had received before admission in April. The NASC team confirmed Mrs Vercoe's assessment for rest home-level of care," the letter said. "Later that day, a second email from NASC indicated that Mental Health Services assessed Mrs Vercoe for Older People in March this year, and this assessment recommended that she receive dementia-level of care. I note that this information was not provided to our team before this date." The rest home said having no knowledge of Amy Vercoe's dementia assessment, it was not aware of any need for her to be cared for in its special care unit. "Had we been aware of this, we could have completed the necessary paperwork and admitted Mrs Vercoe, with your agreement, into our Secure Dementia Unit, which would have prevented her from leaving the unit and then the village," the letter said. "As a rest home resident, we respect residents' rights to maintain their independence, and we cannot guarantee that a resident in a rest home unit won't choose to leave via any exit should they wish to. Our review found that the fire escape operated as required. Furthermore, we implemented the proper care strategies for Mrs Vercoe as a rest home resident." Vercoe was under the impression the rest home knew his wife had dementia. "[The rest home] did know that she had dementia because I told them. I had a phone conversation with a nurse and then I had about a half hour pre-admission interview, and then I probably had another 20 minutes with her then on the day of admission. Different people every time I think but I was clear to them verbally, we discussed her condition. "This was after Health NZ had assessed her as having dementia and then a suitable candidate for this type of rest home care. She clearly wasn't suitable to be in that place but I didn't know that, I don't know the ins and outs of what facilities they have, but she was assessed as having stage 5 dementia, not being able to cope and also being eligible for the subsidy for respite care because I'm her sole caregiver." The letter to Vercoe said on 15 April during his initial walk-through of the village a unit coordinator discussed his wife's requirements with him, and Vercoe confirmed she did not wander away from home. "The question they didn't ask me is what would the consequences of her running away be, and the answer would be it could be potentially quite severe if she wasn't caught quickly," Vercoe said. "Maybe there was a communication breakdown between them and the health department, but that's not enough of an excuse in my opinion for them to not know she had dementia, because I told them." Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Ryman did not comment on Vercoe's specific case, but said if the company received a referral for dementia-level care, the patient would always be placed in secure, specialist dementia care. "Outside of independent retirement living, Ryman offers three levels of care: rest home, hospital, and specialist dementia care. These three levels are offered at Edmund Hillary village," a Ryman spokesperson said. "While our rest homes are supported by 24-hour staffing, rest home level care is not a secure level of care and residents have the independence and freedom to come and go from the unit. "The initial referral for a new respite resident comes from the local division of Health New Zealand who assess their needs, and our contracts with them sets out the level of care to be provided." Ryman did not answer RNZ's question of how many cases there had been in the last year of dementia patients in respite care wandering out of the premises and needing to be searched for. Ryman previously said the Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village, where Elisabeth Nicholls was referred, was not a dementia care facility. Nicholls arrived at the village on the morning of 4 June and was last seen at 6.01pm. "At 6.20pm, team members at the village became aware that Elisabeth may have chosen to leave, on what was her first night at the village, and immediately commenced a search of the premise," Ryman said. "A village search was undertaken including a search of each room, shared space and the rest home grounds, followed by contacting next of kin. As is standard protocol, if a resident is still unable to be located following this process, we then contact police." Following her disappearance, police and Land Search and Rescue volunteers scoured areas of the city to find Nicholls. Pleas were made for the public to check their backyards and anywhere she might have taken refuge. In a statement, Nicholls' family said they were very saddened and relieved she had been found. Nicholls' husband of nearly 60 years Gary Nicholls had described her as an adored wife, mother, grandmother, friend and colleague, who had always put other people first. Health New Zealand Te Waipounamu regional commissioner Chiquita Hansen said the agency acknowledged the past few weeks had been a distressing time for Nicholls' loved ones. "We will work with Ryman to look into what happened, which is standard practice, but for now our priority is working with Police and family at this difficult time," she said. The death will be referred to the coroner. RNZ has approached Health NZ for comment on Vercoe's case. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Families told 'vital' respite centre in Bath will remain open
A respite centre for people with learning disabilities and autism is set to stay open until at least September next year after a U-turn. Newton House in Bath, Somerset, has been facing closure since late 2024 but the families, the care provider Dimensions and the council have been working to find a solution. A group including family representatives has recommended that Dimensions continue running the service until a new provider is Alison Born, cabinet member for adult services, said: "We know how important Newton House is to the families who use it." Newton House is the only place in the area that provides overnight respite care -giving both visitors and their carers a is currently accepting new referrals for people with complex needs. Ms Born said: "We are committed to keeping that support going while we work on a long-term plan. "We're grateful to the families and carers who've worked with us, and to Dimensions for agreeing to keep the service running until next September. "This gives families some peace of mind."She added that future respite care will stay within the council area and the needs of the families will be at the "heart of every decision". "There won't be any gaps in support," she added. The council will meet again in September to discuss a new provider.
