Ninety people have had their care packages withdrawn by the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership since the critical care only policy was introduced on April 1, a Cabinet member revealed. A Labour member of the Integration Joint Board has claimed trust has now been lost in the health body.
Cabinet member confirms figure after council question
Labour Cllr Nairn Angus-McDonald asked Margaret Johnson, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, at Thursday’s full council meeting: “Could the Cabinet member tell us how many people have lost their care packages due to the IJB’s ‘Critical Only’ policy since the last council meeting?”
Cllr Johnson replied: “The specific information requested is not currently available for the period since the last Council meeting, as this is monitored and reported on a monthly basis rather than by individual Council reporting periods. I am therefore unable to provide figures covering that exact timeframe.
“However, I can advise Council that, since the implementation of the policy on April 1 to August 31, a total of 90 service users have had funding for their care packages withdrawn following an individual re-assessment and review of their needs against the Critical Eligibility Criteria.
“Each decision was made on the basis of an assessment of the individual’s circumstances and eligible care and support needs in accordance with the policy approved by the Integration Joint Board.”
Labour claims trust lost and cites 66 per cent increase
Cllr McDonald then said: “Ninety care packages removed – that is a 66 per cent increase since the last meeting removed from those in need without even talking about those with their packages cages cut. And the IJB wants to make another £4.6m in savings through this eligibility criteria.
“The impact on this is not abstract – there is a story of a woman who fought her way back from illness through disabilities with support of a care package and managed to live her life work and work and had a good quality of life and that is all under threat from this policy.
“The Cabinet member was also in attendance at an open meeting with unpaid carers as was the former Cabinet member. She heard first hand the trauma, heartache and fear these cuts are creating.
“She saw the fears and worries on the faces of unpaid carers and witnessed the collapse of trust in the HSCSP at that meeting.”
Cllr Angus-McDonald then asked: “Does the cabinet member now regret proposing critical only and voting for it?”
Cabinet member defends decision and points to financial pressures
Cllr Johnson replied: “No at the time I was there not as a voting member but as a substitute. So that is why I voted for it. There are 14 voting members on the IJB, four of which are North Ayrshire council members representing the HSCP.
“As people in this Chamber are aware, cllr McDonald is one of those. He cannot really absolve himself of the decision that had to be taken at the IJBN in March.
“Over the last year, the IJB repeatedly informed everyone at meetings of the financial state of the partnership and of course it eventually came to pass.
“We tried repeatedly to avoid coming to this state of critical care and I seem to recall that when we had underspend of money at last year’s budget it was asked if that money would go to the HSCP in the hope that there would be a moratorium on social care packages while the review was carried out. That was not passed.”
Under pressure from Labour leader Cllr Joe Cullinane, she later said a budget proposal for a higher Council Tax increase which would have funded more money for the HSCP was rejected.
