Homecare Services

Posted By: Ashley Dearnley
Date Posted: 22/10/2007

Homecare is one of the most important services provided by the Council, supporting elderly and disabled to be able to continue to live an independent life in their own home. Over the years this service has evolved significantly from originally a ‘cleaning and shopping provider’ to these days having to provide a highly skilled service that is able to deal with individual complex care needs.

The commitment and dedication of the Council’s Homecare Workers, ably complimented by the private sector staff, and is very much appreciated by so many receiving care. As a Council we should recognise this and value our staff in the same way as the service users do. Unfortunately the Council Homecare Staff feel vulnerable and under-valued as the Council forges ahead to reduce still further the number of Care Workers we employ.
These changes, we are told by the ruling Lib-Dems, will save the Council money, but at what cost to the elderly and vulnerable I wonder?

Having met with the Union Representative and spoken to many of our excellent Homecare Staff, they are all willing to work with the Council to ensure we get the best value for money. They, like me, challenge the high cost quoted by the Lib-Dems to run the service as opposed to a private sector provider, and wonder what extra management costs are included in their calculation, which may undoubtedly skew the comparison.

All the financial issues and sickness absence figures need very careful scrutiny before any further change is carried out. We owe this to our loyal and dedicated staff and most importantly to the elderly and vulnerable users of the service.

As Conservatives, we are the first to accept costs must be contained, but we do not support many of the Lib-Dem policies. For example; we would not be creating more unnecessary beaurocrats at a cost of £150k to set up an extra ‘Complaints Department’ and we would more robustly reduce the spend on buying in ‘Consultancy Services’ that are costing in excess of £1 million pounds. These are two areas where savings could, and should, be made.

It is all a case of priorities.