Proposals that will transform choice for elderly people seeking respite care in Swansea are being seen by Cabinet on Thursday.
Carers will have the chance to pick and choose from a wide range of innovative services including short breaks with foster families, time out away from home and residential respite care.
They’ve been developed to meet demand for a wider range of respite services now and in future years when there will be more people in need and fewer carers available.
Consultation on the proposals have taken more than 18 months and has won the approval of the authority’s Health, Social Care and Well-Being Overview Board.
The proposals will mean that the Earlsmoor residential respite care unit will close.
But even if Cabinet agrees, Cllr Nick Tregoning, Cabinet Member for Social Services, has pledged that the service provided there will continue until other residential respite services are up and running.
He said: “Even if Cabinet agrees to close Earlsmoor, it’s not going to close overnight. It will take time.
“I recognise that changing services need to be handled carefully and with the greatest respect for current users. That’s why the Council can reassure them that, if Cabinet agrees to the proposals, Earlsmoor will remain open until I’m satisfied that alternative residential respite care is in place.”
The report to Cabinet has identified a range of different kinds of opportunities service users will be able to call on, some of which are already in place.
The Council has already created a highly thought of eight-bed unit at Ty Waunarlwydd to provide residential respite care for people with dementia. It also plans to provide a similar service for physically disabled people at Rose Cross House.
There is also an Extra Care flat at the new Hazel Court complex which offers respite care as well as access to facilities there such as a library, gym, café and IT suite.
Cllr Tregoning said: “The wide-ranging consultations we’ve done have already made a significant contribution to our proposals for future services. The consultation says loudly and clearly that the one-size-fits-all approach is not what people want any more- if they ever did.
“Currently Earlsmoor is the principal residential respite care service that we provide but the consultation and research has shown that demand is changing.
“Quite reasonably, people want to choose the kind of respite care they receive. They want to select from a range of options that may include, for example, care in their own homes, care away from home with friends or relatives or care away from home in a residential unit.”
“These changes recognise and respond to the fact that when it comes to respite care Swansea’s older citizens deserve the same choice, quality and modern standards they have come to expect in every other part of their lives.”
