Staffordshire announces new replacement care plans as government increases support for carers

The county council targetted people during Carers Week to find out their thoughts on the availability of respite services in case they found themselves unavailable in an emergency.

The news comes as the Government plans to double the amount of respite care for people who look after frail and disabled relatives in England - part of a 10-year drive to improve the lives of the UK 's 6 million carers.

"We're also enhancing our provision with extra respite beds in our specialist care homes," says Cllr Susan Woodward, Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities and Older People. "Demographics showed us that there wasn't enough provision for respite which is why each of our retained homes will house between three and five beds specifically for respite care."

Staffordshire is looking to pilot the proposed scheme this Summer, which will ensure that replacement care can be made available to carers at very short notice.

"It will mean that carers can ring up at any time of day to arrange emergency cover. This may be needed for any number of reasons such as their car breaking down or if they become ill themselves.

It involves the carer having an emergency card which has the contact number of the organisation providing the service and a unique number to identify the carer and their emergency plan. The card means that anyone unable to communicate due to an accident or illness is quickly able to alert the emergency services that someone out there depends on their care and that they need to ring the number on the card," said Cllr Woodward.

Carers were also able to request further details about the proposed scheme and to be informed of when it will be launched. They were also asked to feedback their thoughts about any concerns they have about it and what would help reassure them that this service would benefit them in an emergency situation.

The initial service is to run as a year long pilot to test out the scheme and see what, if any, improvements are needed to the arrangements that are put in place.