No solution in sight as NHS and Council release draft adult social care strategy
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A DRAFT plan to deliver a strategy for adult social care in the north is explicit about the challenges but appears to raise more questions than answers.
The Highland Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan Adult Services 2023-2026 by Highland Council and NHS Highland, supported by eight other local authority and health board plans that affect social care, will be discussed by full council this week as care continues to be an urgent issue amid a wave of homes closures.
The report states: “Public services across Scotland are facing huge financial pressure. We cannot provide services in the way we have before – we simply don’t have enough money to do so.”
Outlining how hard-up services are, little seems to have emerged so far in terms of dealing with a crisis that critics say has been engulfing the public sector since before Covid.
The overspends outlined are eye-watering despite the annual budget for adult health and social care for the current year being set at £158 million.
NHS Highland is expected to be almost £43 million over budget and Highland Council almost £9 million over budget this financial year, whereas next year the health board fears a £97.5 million deficit and the council £40.9 million.
The solution as presented in the draft strategy is as yet unclear, but seems to rest partly on greater reliance on unpaid carers, partly on finding unspecified “innovative solutions” and working closely with “natural supports” to promote “positive risk taking.”
The report adds: “Planning for the future of our health and social care services requires a clear financial context which outlines the challenges facing the system, but at the same time looks at our approach to addressing these pressures – through a combination of investment and transformational change. We will consider the whole health and social care system and how this supports the triple aim of better care, better health and better value. Investment, while necessary, will need to be matched with transformation to drive further improvements in our services which must be sustainable and consistent with the imperatives set out in this Strategic Plan.”
With both staff and the public questioned about what is needed, asks include measures to allow people to remain in their homes; working with families and organisations to deliver support; maintaining people’s independence; supporting carers; and planning for eventual care home stays.
