Improving services for children with disabilities
Residents are being invited to have their say on the future shape of services providing ‘short breaks’ for children with disabilities in Northamptonshire.
Short breaks are breaks for children and young people with disabilities which give them rich opportunities while also allowing their carers to have a break from caring to carry out other vital activities they may not otherwise be able to do.
Currently Northamptonshire Children’s Trust and the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board fund a range of different services from a number of different organisations to provide these breaks ranging from residential and non-residential breaks, personal care and support, holiday clubs, sensory impairment services and sleep support.
Having worked with parents and practitioners the organisations have developed a potential new model for the services and are looking for feedback on this before going any further.
Julian Wooster, Chair of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust said: “Previous engagement with parents and practitioners highlighted how critical short break services are and provided some key insights into how these could be improved. It was clear from the sessions held that there was a need for increased early help, a simpler way for families to access the services and for these services to be more flexible, better integrated with each other and provided in places closer to home.
“This feedback was critical in helping us design a potential new model, bringing everything together into a single service run and led by one organisation. Working with our partners, we are requesting feedback on this potential model.”
The new proposed model would bring all current short break services into one offer, led by one organisation – as opposed to the current situation where services are provided across a range of different organisations. The aim is to ensure these services are better joined up to meet the needs of families.
Chief Executive of NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board, Toby Sanders, said: “It is really important to get feedback on the potential new model for these services we are exploring. By looking at doing things differently this may mean that current services need to change as we look to use resources more effectively and improve the support for families.
“All the feedback received from this engagement will be used to develop the new model which we are hoping to be in place from April 2024.”
Workshops are being held for families and practitioners working in the field. If you are interested in attending a workshop please email sufficiency@nctrust.co.uk .
A questionnaire has also been published to gauge views and you can complete the questionnaire online.
Frequently asked questions
What are Short Breaks?
Short Breaks are fun or educational activities for children and young people with disabilities. They allow their parents or carers to take a ‘short break’ from caring. Short Break activities can be accessed at the weekend, during the school holidays, and at youth clubs in the evening. Short Breaks can also be provided in the form of additional support with caring duties (such as personal care). This would be provided at times when the family most needs help. A Short Break could allow parents or carers to take part in training, take part in leisure activities, perform day-to-day tasks, spend time with other children, or complete education and training. Overnight care support may be available for families with the most complex needs if appropriate, following a social care assessment.
Why do Local Authorities and NHS Integrated Care Boards offer Short Breaks?
There are important duties for both Local Authorities and NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICB) as part of the Children Act 1989 section 17 and The Children & Families Act 2014 to arrange for the provision of services or facilities for any children and young people who have special educational needs or who have a disability. Additionally, each NHS ICB has a duty under section 3 of the NHS Act 2006.
Northamptonshire Children’s Trust undertakes the local authority duties on the behalf of North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire Councils.
Why were the Short Breaks services reviewed and re-designed?
Parents and practitioners have told us that short breaks are critical for supporting families with children with disabilities. They told us they can be improved by being more flexible, more responsive, and more joined up.
Children and young people using the service have told us the type of activities they want to take part in.
We are also aware that children with more complex needs or who require higher levels of support are not always able to access short break activities. This means the option for them to access a short break can be limited so they are not necessarily receiving the support they need when they need it.
What Short Breaks services are there in Northamptonshire?
- Residential Short Breaks for overnight stays in either John Greenwood Shipman (JGS) in Northampton or Squirrels in Rushden and is delivered by Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT).
- Non-Residential Short Breaks for weekend, youth club and holiday activities, currently available in Northampton, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, and Daventry and is delivered by Action for Children.
- Sleep Service - Sleep Right is a free support service available online or over the phone. It helps parents and carers of disabled children to improve their child's sleep and is delivered by Scope.
- Sensory Impairment Services offering support and activities for children with visual and hearing impairments and is delivered by Northamptonshire Association for the Blind (NAB) and Deaf Connect.
Who funds the Short Breaks services in Northamptonshire?
The residential short breaks and the sleep service are jointly funded by Northamptonshire Children’s Trust (NCT) and NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board. The non-residential short breaks and sensory impairment services are funded by NCT.
What will be different from the current model of Short Breaks?
Currently there are separate contracts for each of the Short Break’s services, each with their own referral and assessment processes. The proposed new model would join the services together, with the addition of a central hub to support families across all services. There would be additional activities and support to help families get the right help at the right time.
What will happen to my feedback?
All responses to the engagement activities will be analysed and a report will be published sharing the outcome of the engagement. We will use the feedback to inform our equality impact assessment and final proposals for the future short breaks service.
Has the re-design been co-produced with parents / carers?
Parents, practitioners, and other linked organisations were part of the co-production workshops in the Autumn 2020 and further engagement session in November 2020. There is a Children with Disabilities Board (commissioned services) which has parent representatives attending which has been updated on the progress of the project. These engagement activities will ensure that the voice of children, young people, their families, and practitioners are able to engage and further share their views.
Will this affect the service I currently receive?
If your child currently accesses residential or non-residential short breaks, we do not anticipate an immediate change before 1 April 2024. The short breaks support you will receive will still be available in line with your child’s assessed needs. The future model will continue to provide a range of options that will give a greater choice of short breaks to meet the needs of families when they need it.
Depending on the feedback we receive there may be some changes to the locations and days on which short breaks are available. If we plan to make a significant change, we will consult on the proposals. We will ensure support is in place to manage any transitions.
When do you expect any changes to be made?
We expect the new short breaks service to start on 1 April 2024
What will happen next?
Once the engagement activities are complete there could be a further 12-week public consultation in which parents, carers and staff will be notified. There will additionally be engagement with interested organisations who may be interested in delivering short breaks to discuss the proposals and gain their feedback. Once all engagement and consultation activities are complete the results will feed into a new service model for which we would seek an organisation / organisations to deliver.