Respite Care for Carers - More Clarity Needed on Council's Performance

Carers are some of the unsung heroes in our society, providing vital support to a family member for many hours a week and in many instances over a sustained period of time. In fact the caring duties provided to a loved one are often open-ended with no restriction on caring hours and no regular days off. This restricts the life of the carer away from their caring responsibilities.

For example, recent research on the lives of young carers by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Scotland has revealed that:
"only 11% of young carers see friends every day, as opposed to 37% of young people who participated in Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS). 49% of young carers said they visited friends’ houses less than weekly or never."
"Of the young carers responding, 60% cared for more than 20 hours a week, whilst 20% cared more than 50 hours a week. The majority cared for their mother."
In such circumstances, the provision of respite care weeks is a real lifeline for the carer allowing them a rare opportunity to depart from their daily routine and ties as a carer and to recharge their batteries. It is hoped that this would help sustain them so that they can continue their roles and responsibilities as a carer.
It was with this in mind that I quizzed the Director of Social Work at the Social Work Committee last night. In the statistics in the progress report on the Social Work Strategic Plan, there were figures for the number of weeks of respite care provided but no detail about the number and characteristics of the carers who had benefitted from these. It was therefore impossible to know how many carers had benefited from this vital service. As this information would currently take weeks of staff time to provide, I suggested that this should be incorporated in the new plan and the statistics gathered so that Councillors and the public can be in a better informed position to make a judgement about Social Work services in our city such as the provision of respite care weeks. 

Carers and Relatives of Service Users Hear from Social Work Managers about Bleak Future for Kemback Street Adult Resource Centre but Councillors Excluded from Meeting

The Evening Telegraph highlighted the anxieties of Jane Smith regarding her sister’s care needs with the planned closure of Kemback Street Adult Resource Centre (Evening Telegraph 28/05/2012). 
Councillor Lesley Brennan met with Jane, who lives in her ward, and wrote to the Director of Social Work on her behalf. Jane contacted Councillor Brennan on Saturday 9 June about a meeting being held on Tuesday 12 June and asked if she could attend with her.

Councillor Laurie Bidwell was contacted separately by a constituent whose daughter has been a service user at Kemback Adult Resource Centre for 26 years, currently attending on four days a week. He was also invited to attend the meeting.

On Tuesday evening 12 June nearly thirty carers and relatives of service users met a number of social work staff about the planned withdrawal of services at the Kemback Street Adult Resource Centre. The meeting was held at the Central Baptist Church in Ward Road. Although the meeting was called by one of the Carers/Relatives, a Social Work Manager refused to speak with the carers and relatives of service users if the two Councillors remained present.

Ferry Councillor Laurie Bidwell said:

I was surprised and disappointed that a senior social work manger should insist that she would not talk with the carers and relatives of service users if Councillor Lesley Brenan and I remained at the meeting. We had made it clear that we were only there as observers at the invitation of specific constituents. 

When our presence was publicly raised with us by the Manager, many of the people present indicated they wanted us to remain to listen to what was being said. Lesley Brennan and I eventually volunteered to leave so that the meeting could continue without us, because we knew how long these folk have been waiting to be properly informed about the closure. 

Clearly the threat of withdrawing the Kemback services is already generating distress amongst existing service users. I have discovered already that many of the current service users at Kemback Street have long term associations with the centre stretching back as far as the opening in the1980s and some of them attend nearly every weekday. It is therefore understandable that there should be scepticism about this change being in the best interests of the current service users. The fashion for social work services may have changed but to withdraw from existing service users the services that they benefit from, enjoy and have come to rely does not seen to be primarily centred on their needs or preferences.

Lesley Brennan, Councillor for the East End ward said:
The Social Work Committee gave their agreement to the Kemback Street Adult Resource reprovisioning proposals on the 26th of March 2012. Seventy-eight days passed before Mrs Smith and the other carers heard anything regarding what is going to happen to their family members who attend to Centre. I hope this evening’s meeting brought clarity to the next steps.

I am deeply disappointed that the Social Department has fallen short of one of the Council’s core values:

Dundee City Council Elected Members and employees will at all times inform, consult and involve users of council services about what the Council is doing ....

New Members Sought for Dundee City Council's Adoption & Fostering Panels

The Social Work Department is currently seeking new members for Dundee City Council's Adoption & Fostering Panels.

If you have professional or personal experience of fostering or adoption issues, or some involvement in the lives of children who are looked after away from home then they would be interested in hearing from you. 

You will need to be able to commit to attend at least one Panel a month on a Thursday morning from 9am - 1pm. 

For further details contact:
Gail Aboim, Senior Officer, Adoption & Fostering 

tel 01382 436007 or email gail.aboim@dundeecity.gov.uk