EAST SUSSEX BRIGHTON & HOVE CROSSROADS - CARING FOR CARERS LIMITED

For almost 30 years ESBH Crossroads have provided an essential home respite service, giving full time carers the reassurance that our professional & skilled workers will take care of a loved one in their familiar home environment while they take a well-earned break from their caring responsibilities. This gives a carer the freedom to take time to focus on themselves by meeting friends, attending classes, pursuing hobbies, participating in group activities, taking exercise or just doing the weekly shop. Our respite service helps improve the mental health and wellbeing of carers, reducing their social isolation and helping them recharge so they can continue to care for and support their loved ones at home. 

East Sussex Brighton & Hove (ESBH) Crossroads Care have provided a high-quality respite service for full time carers living in Brighton and Hove for almost 30 years. We also run a day centre in Hailsham, East Sussex.

Many of us will choose to look after someone we love at home allowing them to remain in an environment where they feel safe and familiar and preventing them from having to enter a residential care facility. However, looking after a loved one at home can be lonely, socially isolating and can have a negative impact on our mental health and wellbeing.

Crossroads Care provide 3-hour respite visits to enable carers to take a well-earned break from their caring responsibilities. Carers can use this time as they wish to focus on themselves, secure in the knowledge that their loved one will be cared for by one of our team of fully trained and highly professional support workers in their absence.

Our friendly and knowledgeable office team take client referrals and provide support for clients over the telephone. Our management team visit each client at home, create comprehensive care plans and carry out regular client reviews, ensuring care needs are current and accurately recorded. All care planning is user led and delivered in full consultation with those impacted. 

We have a wonderful team of care support workers (CSW’s), who undergo comprehensive training and regular refreshers to guarantee the highest quality of care provision. Our CSW’s provide home based care and care in the community. Although we try to maintain continuity our clients can be confident that all CSW’s are equally qualified and able, so whoever we assign the same excellent level of care will be received. 

Respite and the certainty of quality care support are essential to prevent decline in a carer’s mental health and wellbeing. Without these carers can find themselves in crisis and needing urgent intervention. This would have a negative impact on both the carer and their loved ones. In the worst cases a breakdown of the caring relationship can occur.  

Crossroads Care run a crisis prevention programme. This provides 3 hours of free respite each week for 6 weeks, where a carer is identified as at risk of experiencing a significant decline in their mental wellbeing and/or who is experiencing extreme social isolation due to their caring role. 

We also have a crisis intervention programme, through which an urgent period of free respite is put in place for carers who are already experiencing a sharp decline in their mental health and wellbeing and/or extreme isolation which is immediately impacting on their ability to care for their loved one or who are experiencing a breakdown of the caring relationship.

Our day centre in Hailsham, East Sussex, is currently open 2 days a week. We provide a safe and interactive service for a small number of clients with a diverse range of needs. 

Working with Brighton and Hove City Council we also run the My Health Matters service where carers can access free respite care to attend their own appointments and/or medical treatments and approved health and wellbeing sessions, such as health walks.

Our future aims are to:

•    Expand our respite service in Brighton and Hove

•    Make our respite service affordable for all

•    Adequately reward our invaluable team to ensure staff retention & quality of care

•    Increase our Day Centre provision in Hailsham, East Sussex

•    Open a new Day Centre in Brighton and Hove

To achieve our aims we must raise funds to:

i.    Recruit additional high calibre care staff to expand our respite care provision

ii.    Recruit additional high calibre care staff for our existing and new day centres

iii.    Support new staff through 3 months of rigorous training

iv.    Reduce the cost of care for all

v.    Support more free care hours for those at risk of or experiencing crisis

vi.    Support more free ad hoc care hours for those in need

vii.    Upgrade resources for the East Sussex day centre

viii.    Purchase resources for the new Brighton and Hove day centre