Carers NI has welcomed the Health Minister’s plans to boost respite services for children with disabilities.  

The Health Minister’s plans announced today in the NI Assembly involve increasing short breaks capacity and expanding family, therapeutic and behavioural support in the community. This will be supported by up to £13m a year in additional multi-year funding, including up to £2m for the rest of the current financial year.  

Carers NI, the membership organisation for those providing unpaid care for ill, disabled or older family members or friends in Northern Ireland, said the investment would go some way towards helping families on waiting lists and a growing number of children on the edge of care.  

Áine Magee, Public Affairs and Media Manager for Carers NI, said: “Carers are the backbone of our society, and it has been clear for many years that access to respite and short break services has been a significant issue for many carers.   

“This lack of respite support, alongside inadequate community support, has left carers facing the unrelenting pressure of caring 24 hours, seven days a week and in many cases with little or no access to breaks or support to look after their own health and wellbeing.  

“We welcome the Minister’s intention to deliver some improvements in short break capacity within a matter of months. This will provide much-needed relief for some carers. We also agree with the Minister that not releasing this funding would be ‘tantamount to a catastrophic cut’.  

“Providing better support for carers must be underpinned by sustained investment, clear regional planning and workforce development. In the draft Programme for Government document, carers like those we saw in the excellent BBC documentary ‘I am not Okay’, are invisible. It is a document that carers say ignores their needs. This urgently needs corrected in any final Programme for Government the NI Executive publishes, especially if they wish to align with their vision of ‘doing what matters most.”