Service cuts review call
The Lib Dems have called for an urgent review after the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust announced a temporary reduction in dementia assessment and diagnosis services.
Dr Kate O’kelly, Liberal Democrat county councillor for Midhurst division, has requested an urgent review from West Sussex County Council on the consequences of the reduction of dementia services on their Adult Social Care services. Dr O’kelly has worked in both the Memory Assessment and Complex Dementia Services Teams and is keen to pay tribute to how hard the teams work to support the most vulnerable and their families. Commenting on the announcement, Dr
O’kelly said: “What’s clear is that we cannot just abandon these individuals and their families. A delayed diagnosis means a delay in support for families. For the individuals affected, a delay in treatment could easily mean further progression of dementia earlier – leading to more care needed sooner. If the individuals with more complex dementia have less support from the dementia services, then it will fall to the overstretched Adult Social Care teams to support them as best they can. The Adults Service are already looking at long waiting times for urgent assessments. The impact of these changes will mean many more of these individuals will end up back in an acute hospital which is the last place they should be.”
Jess Brown-fuller, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Chichester constituency, said: “The whole merry-go-round of under-funding of public services coupled with attempts to pass-on responsibility for the most vulnerable in our society is symptomatic of a general feeling that “Broken Britain” has come to West Sussex – and now it’s directly impacting local residents and their families, struggling to provide the care their loved ones need and deserve. I don’t believe it has to be like this. The Lib Dems advocate a joined-up, robust and compassionate policy of integrating better-funded social care and NHS care. No more hospital bed-blocking, no more residents who need dementia services being side-lined. No more arguments about who pays. It’s all one budget. The two separate budgets and obligations of NHS and Adult Social Services would become one – with no robbing of one to pay the other.”