Overnight respite/short breaks
The graph above delineates the distribution of Warwickshire County Council (WCC) funded respite packages and short break packages across various Personal Support Reasons (PSR) throughout the documented timeframe.
Respite care
In 2018, the instances of respite care for individuals with learning disabilities numbered 63, decreasing to 52 in 2023. Concurrently, respite care for physical disabilities held steady at 1 for both periods. Notably, no instances of respite care were recorded for mental health issues in both 2018 and 2023 and we need to assess our current respite offer and demand to understand if this is an area we need to facilitate further development and growth.
Short breaks
Short breaks for individuals with learning disabilities witnessed a decrease from 48 in 2018 to 44 in 2023. Meanwhile, short breaks for physical disabilities reduced from 1 in 2018 to 0 in 2023. Similar to respite care, no short breaks were recorded for mental health issues in both 2018 and 2023.
Overall trends
The overall trends underscore an evident reduction in respite care for learning disabilities. Short breaks have witnessed a decline for both learning disabilities and physical disabilities. There is a need to understand whether the need for short breaks is being met through other provision (for example respite or community opportunities) and/or whether there is an unmet demand.