North Lanarkshire Update

A kind reader has drawnly attention to this press release from North Lanarkshire's Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) which claims that the future of the Council's Home Care service has been secured.

Now I'm not so sure that things are quite as cut and dried as the press release makes out because it's pretty obvious that a major review of the Council's service is underway.

Yet, so far at least, there appears to have been very little in the way of discussion as to what this actually means for the workforce while the JIB (Joint Integration Board) highlights the need to meet increasingly complex client needs including end of life care. 

I must have a look at the JIB papers which are accessible online and as I said in a previous post if I were a Home Carer in North Lanarkshire, I would be paying much more attention to this particular issue in the weeks and months ahead.

I assume that the trade unions are arranging meetings with Home Care members to report back from the JIB discussions, especially as the deadline for any changes to be agreed is the spring of 2017. 

 

Protecting home support

Joint Integration Board approves measures to protect home support

North Lanarkshire Joint Integration Board (JIB) has approved action to ensure that demand for home support can be met while securing the employment of in-house staff.

At its meeting this week, the JIB considered a report which set out the challenges of delivering increasing levels of home support. Contracts with current independent providers expire in March next year, meaning Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire (the operational arm of the JIB) is required to begin putting in place new contracts now.

The Care at Home plans approved by the JIB will see the highly-skilled council-employed staff support people through reablement, provide complex support and also sensitive end-of-life care. This will secure the employment of the in-house staff.

Councillor Harry McGuigan, chair of the JIB, said: "This is an excellent outcome for people who need support and for the existing council workforce. Demand is growing and people with more complex needs are increasingly being cared for at home. It's essential we can meet that need so that people can lead safer, healthier, independent lives.

"The council workforce is highly-skilled and mobile and so it makes sense for their focus to be on complex needs. The consequence of this report is the securing of employment for in-house staff. For many years around 70% of home support has been provided by in-house staff, with 30% coming from independent providers.

"Our Care at Home strategy will maximise the use of our resources, will address increased need and, most importantly of all, improve outcomes for people who require support. It means that we can deliver the right support in the right place at the right time. We will be engaging with staff to develop the new arrangements."