Personalisation: How can it work for you?

Thanks to personalisation and the transformation of our respite and care services, people in Wirral are now able to access respite and care support in new and different ways that were not previously available to them.   

For example:

• Support provided in the person’s own home – either by the hour, day or longer period, sometimes known as ‘sitting service’. 
• Overnight care away from home (care home or hospital) – normally planned and commonly for one or two week placements. 
• Family breaks in hotels in a variety of settings.
• Breaks in established holiday accommodation such as log cabins for the whole family including grandchildren on holiday together.  This enables both parties to have a holiday as normal with time off for the Carer as needed. 
• Overnight short term breaks from one or more days, weekends or weeks in a specially adapted centre or holiday facility. 
• Holidays away from home in a safe and friendly environment. 

Case study 1 

Lesley is a 38 year old woman with learning disabilities; she also has some physical disabilities.  She lives at home with her parents and attends a day centre twice a week. 

In the past Lesley’s parents have used a residential home near by their home in order to provide them with two weeks respite, they do this several times a year.  They acknowledge that this is not ideal for Lesley but desperately need the respite this gives them in order to carry on their caring role. 

After discussions with their social worker they agreed to try a new approach.  The social worker and a support planner met with them and Lesley to develop an individual support plan that took into account all Lesley’s needs as well as their own needs in relation to respite. 

After exploring all the possibilities open to the family, it was agreed that Lesley would access a short break using a national charity that provided bespoke and individual breaks.

The charity provided specially designed, equipped and furnished centres where physically disabled people could have an enjoyable break.  It also provided support through the holidays for Carers.

The outcome has been that Lesley now goes on a short break with the charity twice a year and has benefitted hugely from this, so much so that she and her parents are now in the process of working with professionals to move Lesley into supported accommodation.  This would not have been possible before as neither Lesley nor her parents had the confidence they have gained through the support planning process and the new opportunities that have become available to them. 

Case study 2 

Maureen is 74 years old and has for the past 5 years used respite facilities at a Local Authority provided establishment in order to give her husband Malcolm a break as he is her main Carer. 

Maureen and her husband Malcolm worked with their allocated social worker to develop a support plan.  It became clear through this process that although Malcolm appreciated the break from caring responsibilities, he did not really relax while Marie was away as he worried about her and also he felt quite lonely without her company. 

Through identified what outcomes both Maureen and Malcolm wanted from the respite, it was decided that what they would actually like to do would be to have a holiday together as they had done many years before.  The social worker helped them to find a suitable and appropriate holiday destination that could provide the support they required. 

Malcolm sums up how this has changed their lives:

“I can’t sum up what an effect this has had on our lives, in the past I spent nearly the whole two weeks when Maureen was away, on my own.  While that gave me a break from the physical and emotional strain of caring, I was really down a lot of the time because I missed her company and had no-one to talk to.” 

“But now, since we have the personal budget we can choose what to do and where to go.  We have support when it’s needed but the great thing is we are like a real couple again instead of being separated like naughty children!” 

“Maureen is much happier now, as am I, we cant believe the difference and also the planning and choosing of where to go has given us another real interest, in fact our grandchildren have even been helping us choose places using the internet.  I would never had thought this was possible before, I can’t thank everyone enough for making this happen for us."