Health and care forum’s clear message on £25m budget gap

A RENEWED sense of clarity from health bosses was in the air at the recent Mid Argyll Health and Care Forum (HCF) meeting at which it was revealed there is an expected budget gap of £25million in the next three years.

The forum was held on Tuesday April 24 at Lochgilphead Resource Centre, with several members of the public attending the meeting to discuss plans on the future of health care in Mid Argyll.

Attending the forum was Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) chairwoman Christina West and Argyll and Bute local area HSCP manager Kate MacAulay.

Both addressed the HCF on their saving plans and answered questions.

Kate MacAulay explained that an ageing population and a diminishing work force meant the current model of health care in Argyll and Bute was no longer sustainable.

Outlining the plans to change the services to reduce expenditure, Ms MacAulay told the forum: ‘In Mid Argyll, we want services to be one team, so that you only need to make one referral.

‘The referral is triaged on the day it comes in and sign posted to the appropriate professional to reduce the amount of waste in our systems caused by delays.

‘If your referral reaches the right person they can meet your needs quicker.

‘The team is driven to make these changes and want to be delivering a speedy response to whatever needs there are in the community.’

Ms West highlighted each local area was different in Argyll and Bute and this had to be noted when providing learning disability care.

She said: ‘The services available to support people in each locality vary hugely between Campbeltown, Mid Argyll and Oban.

‘You are here tonight to find out the future. My feedback on that would be you need to influence the future.

‘What we have said is that services need to change. They need to change because our workforce is diminishing in Argyll and Bute.

‘We need to think about how we use people’s skills to the maximum while still supporting people.

‘The amount of money we have been given is not sufficient to cover the cost of current services.’

Members of the public highlighted the need to understand the structure of the partnership and who is responsible throughout it.

Leonard McNeill, from Minard, asked for a flow chart to be created to make it easier for people to understand who to go to if they had a specific question, but that was yet to be made.

Following the forum’s conclusion, members thought their questions had been answered – for now.

More questions may follow in time as the IJB make final decisions on cuts to services.

Ms MacAulay summed up the evening, saying: ‘We are committed to providing services, despite the partnership going rapidly into the red.’