Councillor calling for action over care home places

DUNDEE city councillor Fraser Macpherson is calling for urgent action by the Cabinet secretary for health, wellbeing and sport to properly tackle the financial crisis facing the provision of care home places.

It follows figures confirming a 15% cut in care home spaces in Dundee.

Mr Macpherson said there was a looming crisis in care, not just in the city but across Scotland, and there was a real need for health secretary Shona Robison to “grasp the nettle” and recognise the need to increase financial support to health and social care partnerships.

Mr Macpherson said: “It is very clear that health and social care partnerships require additional resources over a sustained period to meet the increasing demand for care provision, as we have an increasingly large elderly population across Scotland.

“The figures show a cut in care home places in Dundee, which is very worrying indeed.

“We have a demographic challenge and the Cabinet secretary for health, wellbeing and sport really does have to get a grip of this — the health and social care partnerships require the resources to meet the challenge.”

Mr Macpherson added: “The effect of not giving sufficient resources to meet the increasing demand for care home provision simply causes health board overspends through bed blocking.

“It is therefore a no-brainer that the health and social care partnerships require sufficient resources to meet the increasing demand for care home provision.”

He has written to Diane McCulloch, head of service, health and community care at Dundee Health & Social Care Partnership, seeking clarification of the use of care provision by external providers in previous years. It had been claimed that this information was not held.

Fraser Macpherson