Policy Statement
This home will provide respite or short-term breaks for people assessed as able to benefit from such a service, operating in line with the Essential standards of quality and safety published by the Care Quality Commission.
Aim of the Policy
This policy is intended to set out the home’s practice in relation to respite or short-term breaks, and to:
- ensure that the home provides a high quality, safe and appropriate service
- meet and balance the assessed needs of both the person we care for and their regular carer.
Policy on Respite Breaks
1. The home will offer short-term care for people with a need for support which is generally being met in a domiciliary setting for durations agreed as appropriate.
2. We will aim to ensure that the provision of a short-term break gives carers who are family members or friends a period of respite from their caring duties and the opportunity to regain their full health, energy and motivation.
3. We will try to make the period of residence in the home a positive experience for the respite resident so that they do not experience it as simple relief for the carer from the burden of caring for them.
4. Arrangements for a respite break will always be incorporated into, and compatible with, a broader care plan for the resident.
5. We will work with other relevant agencies to make full use of the assessments carried out in relation to the needs of both carers and respite residents.
6. We will make available to each respite resident all necessary services within the home and in the wider community to make their stay a positive and fulfilling experience.
7. We will take care to make the transition from a domiciliary setting to the home and back at the end of the respite break as comfortable and safe as possible and will cooperate fully in this process with both carers and all other relevant organisations.
8. Care will be taken to ensure that the home has all of the information and documentation necessary to the resident’s support and safety in advance of the respite break, and that any material accumulated during the period of residence which is relevant to the resident’s future care is passed both to the carer and to other relevant organisations.
9. For each arrangement for a respite stay the resident and carer will be given a contract or statement of terms and conditions making clear the rights and responsibilities of all parties.
10. Arrangements for the payment of fees by, or on behalf of, the resident will be agreed in advance of a respite stay.
11. The presence of residents on respite breaks in the home must not intrude negatively on the comfort and welfare of longer term residents, and every attempt will be made to integrate respite residents into the regular life and community of the home.
| Signed: | _______________________________ |
| Date: | _______________________________ |
| Policy review date: | _______________________________ |