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Respite unit team praised for their ‘flexibility and dedication’


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Staff from our residential respite units have been highly commended at a national awards ceremony for rising to the challenge of covid and adapting to support those leaving hospital.

At the recent Local Government Chronicle Awards our in-house Learning Disability Respite Team were recognised in the ‘small team of the year’ category.

We have three residential respite units, in Exeter, Honiton and Barnstaple, providing overnight respite accommodation for the families of younger adults with learning disabilities.

Often these short breaks are the only breaks these families get.

But then covid hit and, following Government lockdown rules, we had to close these services.

But as hospital beds filled up and the NHS became under increasing pressure the team was asked to run and staff two facilities to support those leaving hospital ahead of an expected surge of COVID related hospitalisations.

Two suitable hotels, one in Exeter and one in Bideford, were equipped and became ‘care hotels’.

There our staff played a crucial role serving as a ‘bridge’ between hospital and home. They provided a supportive environment for patients, helped them relearn lost skills following a hospital stay and reduced the likelihood of readmission.

Councillor James McInnes, Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult Social Care and Health, said:

“I am very proud of the Learning Disability Respite Team and pleased that they have been recognised on a national stage. It’s well deserved.

“Like other health and care staff they rose to the challenge, working long hours, sometimes staying away from their families to ensure they were adequately staffed, and to protect their own loved ones from infection.

“They put themselves at higher risk of infection during a time when most of the population were being told to stay home for their own safety.

“They demonstrated flexibility and dedication to the care and safety of those they were tasked with looking after, and without their support many more people could have remained in hospital for longer than needed.”


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