South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board – HSCP17 External Care at Home Services Reduction
| Title | South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board – HSCP17 External Care at Home Services Reduction |
|---|---|
| Council Resource | Social Work |
| Aims and Objectives | In respect of the external care at home services, it is proposed that the budget is reduced by £5.459m in 2024/2025. In order to achieve this target saving, in addition to reviewing the net costs across this service, the external care at home hours commissioned would require to be reduced by up to 864 hours per month. By 31 March 2025, the total reduction across external care at home services would therefore be up to 10,368 hours per annum. The effect of this proposal would see a part year reduction in 2024/2025 of £5.459m and full year effect in 2025/2026 of £11.9m i.e. an additional £6.4m. This would support the IJB to achieve its statutory responsibility to set a balanced budget in 2024/25. |
| Conclusion | The policy is likely to impact greater on the older population based on the demographics of service users within the care at home service. However, there are also a range of adults with disabilities or long term conditions who may also be affected by this proposal. A range of consultation has been undertaken, including extended sessions with IJB members and IJB voting members. https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/slhscp/info/2/integration_joint_board The South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Forum has also contributed to the overall process, representing the views of the public on health and social care matters. The protected characteristic of age and disability may be affected by this proposal. There will be an increase in the waiting lists for access to care at home services and this will impact on both service users being discharged from hospital and waiting in the community. Every action will be taken to mitigate this through the equitable application of self-directed support assessment. The implementation of the budget reduction across the external care at home services will require to be flexible to take cognisance of existing care support arrangements, changes in demand and provider capacity. The strategy to establish Home First Teams across all localities is ensuring a self-directed support plan is in place to deliver care to those assessed as having critical and substantial needs. Individuals will therefore be given equitable access to Self-directed Support and will be supported to make choices and take control of their care and support and to optimise their independence. Existing external care at home packages are also being reviewed to reduce care hours committed in line with the average care package size for the internal care at home service. The use of moving and handling equipment to reduce the need for two carers and the increased use of technology in assessment and provision of care is also ensuring the size of the care package is optimal. The demand for Care at Home Services will continue to be monitored to ensure the available capacity is directed to critical and substantial needs as per current SLC policy. This will continue to be monitored through support plan reviews. The aim of this proposal is to optimise the allocation of available care at home hours, ensuring they are directed to critical and substantial needs as per the current SLC policy. There is potential that the proposal could have an adverse effect in relation to protected characteristics of age and disability. However, as the Home First approach gradually embeds across all four localities, there is an emerging pattern of a reduction of ongoing care at home support, with an average of a 30% reduction. Pathways are being fully established and recruitment is ongoing to scale the Home First teams up to fully operational levels. Home First intervention is having a positive impact on managing demand through early assessment activity and is reducing care hours across both internal and external care packages. The consistent and equitable application of Self-directed Support will also mitigate the impact for individuals by tailoring services to their needs and capabilities and meeting the commitment of the South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership to tackle inequalities. Agreed by the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board on 26th March 2024. |
| Completion date | March 2024 |
| Contact Email address | equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk |