Update on transformation of services for older people
Last updated | 27/01/2012
An update on the work being done to transform services for older people in Perth and Kinross will be given to Housing and Health Committee on Wednesday 1st February.
A new partnership agreement was signed last year by local public, private and voluntary sector organisations that will change the focus and culture of care provision for older people.
The project is about changing the way services are delivered in order to make sustainable support available for everyone now and into the future, and to make sure services meet individual needs.
The process is being pushed forward under the Change Fund, a Scottish Government programme which provides funding for the Health and Social Care, voluntary and private sectors to work together to develop services that will meet the challenges of a growing elderly population. The number of people aged over-65 living in Perth and Kinross is expected to increase by 74% by 2031, significantly higher than the national level of 61%.
Around £2.3 million has been allocated for service development in Perth and Kinross, following a bid submitted by NHS Tayside and Perth & Kinross Council.
Support towards independent living
Older people requiring social care in Perth and Kinross will be supported to live independently in their own homes whenever possible rather than in long-term hospital or residential care, thanks to the community-focused change in the way services will be delivered. Unnecessary admission to hospital will be prevented, and when people are hospitalised they will be discharged earlier.
As well as providing better value care for service users in a community setting that is beneficial to clients, the work will reduce the number of hospital bed days lost through delayed discharge of patients.
Care provision will be tailored according to what support already exists in local communities and what additional support can be developed. Community partnerships will be forged, and innovation will be encouraged in local communities in order to offer a robust range of community support.
The Housing and Health Committee will be told that a broad number of measures have been initiated over the last six months across four key objective areas, which are:
• Reducing the number of hospital bed days lost due to delayed discharges of people aged over 65
• Reducing the number of unplanned hospital and care h0me admissions of over-65s
• Improved support for people with dementia
• Building community capacity
Committee Convener, Councillor Peter Barrett, explained: “We are still in the very early stages of implementing this transformation. This is a large and complex piece of work that will take some time, but the measures we have implemented have already produced encouraging results.
“We are beginning to see an impact on the number of 'delayed discharge' days lost each month in local hospitals, for example. We have also seen a significant reduction in the waiting time for patients awaiting a social work service."
Real progress
Councillor Barrett continued: “We have also made real progress in engagement with local communities about how we can work together to build capacity and tailor services to meet local needs and to match community support. For example, we are looking to set up Community Timebanks to allow people to volunteer their time to help older people in their communities. Community Timebanking allows volunteers to use their skills to support people in their local area now, so that when they need help other people will be there for them. We have appointed a Timebanking Co-ordinator, and the first scheme has been established.
“Another improvement is the introduction of step-up/step-down care. This will provide an intermediate level of care for people who aren’t in a position to cope at home with support, but where a hospital bed is too intensive a level of care for them.
"Over the next six months we will see a growing emphasis on work being done to reduce the number of non-emergency admissions to hospital for people over 65. Closer links will also be secured between the partners through a new joint commissioning strategy. This will ensure a high level of co-ordination and planning as the programme is taken forward. Local community GPs will play an important role in developing new services.
"This change is a response what service users have told us they want. For a long time older people have told us that they don’t want to go into hospital or into residential care unless they really have to, so this is about providing community-based services that help people remain in their own homes. Older people have an important and active role to play in community life. We want to empower them, and their local communities, to engage in the provision of new services. This project will improve community cohesion and enhance people’s quality of life.
"Changes to services will happen over the next few years. They will be shaped by the specific requirements of individual communities and by the commitment of people in those communities, at a pace which is appropriate to them. All partners are committed to a full engagement programme with individual communities as plans emerge and develop."
