To ask the Minister of Health to detail the facilities currently providing respite care, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.

Western Health and Social Care Trust

Children’s Disability Services

Rosebud Cottage in Northern Sector of the Trust currently provides respite care for Children with Disabilities. This unit is operational on a part time basis only with incremental increase planned to 6 days per week by May 2025.

Avalon House is a short break facility in the Southern Sector of the Trust however this unit is currently repurposed to provide Medium to Long term Care for 4 young people. This unit will remain as a residential facility for the foreseeable.

Butterfly Lodge is located on the Altnagelvin site and is a small unit where children with complex physical health care needs can avail of a short break. A team of children’s healthcare assistants support children with complex physical health care needs. After core hours care packages are allocated, with the remaining hours allocated to give short breaks to children and families. Some of these breaks are provided in the home and some are provided in Butterfly lodge.

Adult Learning Disability Services

The Trust has the following statutory facilities for respite/short breaks: -

Adult Cottage L ’Derry– 5 beds

Beltany House, Omagh – 3 beds

Creamery House and Mantlin Court Residential Homes Kesh are used to provide respite/short breaks at times when there is capacity within the residential population (maximum 1 bed)

Older Peoples Services

The Trust purchase other respite/short break bed provision from within the Independent Residential & Nursing Home Sector predominantly within the Trust area, but at times from within other Trust areas, depending on need.

South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust

Children’s Disability Services

The South Eastern HSC Trust (SET) currently has one Residential short Breaks Children’s Home, Green Hill, located in Newcastle County Down. This home, with the new Ministerial investment will be budgeted to deliver two beds per night seven nights per week. However, this will be contingent in a successful workforce recruitment campaign. The Trust also avails of Residential Short Breaks for children with complex medical needs and this is provided by the Belfast Trust, in Forest Lodge, Belfast.

Adult Learning Disability

The SET has 1 statutory short breaks facility for adults with Learning Disabilities. A panel is held monthly when the registered manager and Community Social Work Managers allocate nights for service users based on assessed need.

SET also have block contracts with private providers for respite/short breaks for adults with Learning Disabilities across the 3 sectors of the Trust. Additional beds can also be spot purchased if required and are available. Respite/short breaks with private providers are also allocated as appropriate in accordance with assessed need.

Older Peoples Services

In SET Older Peoples Services there are 10 block booked respite/short break beds available in both independent sector care homes and in Trust statutory residential facilities:

2 in North Down & Ards (1 bed Mount Alexander Care Home – 1 bed Croaghpatrick Care Home)

4 in Lisburn (2 beds in Drumlough House Care Home and 2 beds in Laurelhill Care Home)

4 in Down (4 beds in Ardview)

In addition to these blocked booked respite beds, service users can be admitted to any care home bed, should there be a need for an emergency short break or a planned respite short break

Northern Health and Social Care Trust

Children’s Disability Services

The Northern Trust has two residential short break facilities.

One facility has six registered beds which are managed dependent on the needs of the young people and staffing ratio required. Presently this facility has had to be re-purposed to accommodate two children requiring residential care and it is providing a short break for two children.

The other facility is registered to provide a short break for three children, also dependant on needs and staffing ratio. Due to staffing issues it has been closed to short break provision. This remains under continuous review.

Adult Learning Disability Services

The Adult Learning Disability Service currently has all commissioned beds opened for respite/short breaks. This includes 12 residential beds and two nursing beds.

Older people Services

The Trust has a total of 10 residential respite/short break beds for older people across the following statutory residential homes – Clonmore, Lisgarel, Joymount, Roddens and Westlands. There are currently no contracted short break beds in nursing care homes. They will be arranged on an ad-hoc basis depending on the assessed need of service users. Due to availability of nursing care places, it is not always possible to secure a place in the service users preferred locality.

Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Children’s Disability Services

There are a number of different services targeted from early intervention/prevention community services up to residential and short breaks fostering overnight options.

Oaklands Residential Short Breaks Unit Armagh.

Willowgrove Residential Short Breaks Unit Banbridge that facilitates placements for Armagh and Newry children in addition to Cookstown and Banbridge.

This list includes additionality over the summer period as this is acknowledged as a particularly difficult time for families without the consistency offered by schools as follows;

IncredABLE Peer Outings Programme including residential overnights.

IncredABLE Youth Empowerment Programme including residential overnights.

IncredABLE overnight provision.

YMCA Lurgan Independent Living Skills group including an overnight residential.

Learning Disability Services

There are six care homes in the Southern HSC Trust which are commissioned by Learning Disability Services to provide respite/short breaks. These include:

Woodlawn House, Dungannon

The Haven, Dungannon

St Joseph’s, Warrenpoint

Dungannon Care Home, Dungannon

Bawn Cottage, Hamiltonsbawn

Nightingale Lodge, Lurgan.

Community Services for Older people, including memory services, commission short breaks on an ad hoc basis. There are no respite/short breaks contracted beds for older people. There is one blocked booked Memory respite bed in Seapatrick. A short break may be commissioned from any of the residential/ nursing beds within and outside of the Southern HSCT area.

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Children’s Disability Services

The Trust has Residential Short Breaks for children with complex medical needs provided, in Forest Lodge, Belfast, this facility is shared with the South Eastern Trust. The Trust has also commissioned a short breaks service from Barnardos (Whistle-stop) from July 2024.

Adult Learning Disability and Older Peoples Services

Adult Community & Older People Services do not have specific Nursing or Residential facilities that are commissioned solely for the purpose of respite. Adult Community & Older People Services would commission time specific beds with independent sector Nursing or Residential facilities based on the service users assessed need.

The Trust can also commission respite at home with independent Sector domiciliary agencies dependent on the service users assessed need, as well as afford respite via commissioned day centre placements. Adult Community & Older People Services have 7 centres for older people and 3 for people living with a dementia within the directorate. The Trust can also provide respite support via community & voluntary agencies with regards to day opportunities.