| Councillor Ian Borthwick revealed he is seeking a meeting with Dundee’s director of social work Alan Baird in light of the revelation that elderly people in the city who qualify for free personal care are being charged up to £2700 by the local authority for the first 90 days they spend in homes.
Describing the situation as a system of “rationing” he said, “I cannot remember that coming before committee and I think there has to be a full statement as to the situation in respect of Dundee.
“I want to know what is going on, and the impact it is having on delayed discharges from hospitals.
“The social work department does a very good job and there are a lot of good services going on. However, I think there has to be a proper assessment as to why this is occurring,” said the councillor.
“If there is rationing, and rationing quite clearly is working here, then the criteria and applications policy has to be clearly laid out to elected council members.
“We have to know exactly what’s going on, why it’s going on and what steps are being taken to remedy the situation.”
The council has been deferring the provision of free care since it was discovered the funding allocation from the Scottish Executive would not meet the level of admissions.
“The important principle should be that there is equal access throughout Scotland,” said Councillor Borthwick.
“If the situation that concerns us is as a result of inadequate funding, that has to be addressed.”
He added the possible knock-on effect on delayed discharges from hospital — nicknamed bed-blocking — was also a concern.
“A great deal of work is being undertaken by NHS Tayside to reduce delayed discharges but it is absolutely essential that high-quality services are available when patients are discharged.”
Despite the revelation that 15 of Scotland’s 32 councils operate a waiting list for free personal care and a further two have people waiting for assessment to see if they qualify for it, deputy health minister Lewis Macdonald today maintained the policy “continues to deliver results”.
He said, “Costs have risen, but we have always recognised and budgeted for the rise in the elderly population. This policy benefits thousands of older people and we remain committed to delivering free personal and nursing care for those who need it.”
Mr Macdonald was commenting on statistics showing the take-up and costs of free nursing and personal care.
The latest figures show that, at September 2005, almost 8900 self-funders received free personal care in homes — up 29% from the introduction of the policy in July 2002 — and a further 40,900 people received free personal care at home — a rise of 69% from 2002.
The flagship Executive policy of free personal care for the elderly cost more than £200 million last year, figures disclosed today.
Free personal care payments to those paying their own way in care homes totalled £65.44m.
And personal care for those living at home cost £136 million, although not all of this was new spending as councils provided some free personal care before the new policy was brought in. |
