Over the last couple of years ADCA (Audlem & District Community Action) has developed its carer support service so that it now provides vital support to over 50 of the people who themselves support and care for elderly or disabled relatives and others. One vital part of this service is to provide carers' breaks whereby groups of carers can meet up for mutual support and enjoy a complete change of scene and activity for a few hours. These services are acknowledged as being of great benefit to the health and wellbeing of carers and those they care for.
Vital funding to allow ADCA to do this work has been provided by the Department of Health via local Clinical Commissioning Groups for the last three years. This year (i.e. April 2017/March 18), the funding has been allocated nationally but has not yet been passed by South Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group to Cheshire East Council to fund local carers organisations in spite of repeated requests from ADCA (and other organisations in Cheshire East with the same problem).
So ADCA now feel that their only recourse is to directly address the senior managers in South Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group about this delay in allocating the funding. ADCA has also obtained support from local councillors in Cheshire East Council who are now seeking to apply pressure on the health service locally to resolve this urgent issue.
Letter from ADCA to South Cheshire CCG
To South Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group – nhssouthcheshire.ccg@nhs.net
Dear Carers Breaks Lead,
I am writing on behalf of our charity, Audlem & District Community Action, who have provided carers support and breaks with funding from yourselves via Cheshire East Council over the last 3 years. We understand from our contacts in Cheshire East that the funding for carers breaks for this financial year, 2017/18, has been made available from DoH to Clinical Commissioning Groups but that there has been a delay in getting its allocation authorised for tendering given new government criteria.
However, this delay is now having a potentially deleterious effect on the support services we are able to provide to our carers locally (we are now in touch with 52 carers on a regular basis in our small rural area – up from 42 carers in April 2017). We have had to suspend carers breaks although are still providing staff support to the regular carers coffee morning for the time being.
Could you advise us when the grant money will be made available this year and could we also suggest that, given the delay win allocating the money, you consider, with CEC, the rolling over of the grant to existing approved providers on a pro rata basis rather than going through the lengthy tendering process which would further delay the allocation of much needed money for these essential carers support services.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Roger Millns
Chairman, ADCA
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