Usefulness of respite care proposal queried

A PROPOSAL to give families of disabled people money to choose how they access respite care could be of little use in Dunedin if more respite facilities do not open, a Dunedin mother says.

In March, Idea Services, the operational arm of IHC, closed its only Dunedin respite house, in Wycolla Ave.

Kate Hall, whose son Lucas is intellectually disabled, was one of about 50 people who attended a meeting on the Ministry of Health draft respite strategy at the Caversham Baptist Church, in Dunedin last night.

Ministry development manager Deborah Mills and family and community support team manager Amanda Bleckmann told the meeting the strategy intended to provide a ‘‘flexible respite budget’’ so families could fund the frequency and type of respite that suited them.

At present, the ministry spends $61 million a year on respite care.

Respite funding would be determined by the severity of an individual’s needs, Ms Mills said.

The draft strategy, which would be presented to Health Minister Jonathan Coleman at the end of the month, also proposed providing respite for disabled children and their families earlier in their lives, she said.

‘‘It’s taking an investment approach to respite, that’s not waiting until people are at the end of their tether and they can’t wait anymore.’’

The proposal to provide flexible funding to families received praise by people at the meeting, but where the respite money would be spent in Dunedin was questioned by a number of representatives from disability sup port services.

Corstorphine Baptist Community Trust chief executive Barb Long said the organisation referred clients to services for support, including respite care, but there were limited facilities in Dunedin.

Dunedinbased mental health and disability services provider Pact had access to two respite beds, both of which were full.

Since the closure of the IHC respite house, Mrs Hall and her son had not had a break because there were no facilities he could go to, she said.

‘‘If the funding came through now I would have nowhere in Dunedin to spend it.’’

Dunedin businessman Richard Joseph said the strategy did not address how respite facilities could be developed and funded.

‘‘From a business perspective it needs to be considered how do you fund services because they can’t just rely on people choosing to go there.’’

How respite services would be funded by the strategy was yet to be finalised, Ms Mills said.

margot.taylor@odt.nz