Home care crisis Councillor calls for urgent action
No-one “appreciated the full scale of the problem” with home care services in South Lanarkshire until it was too late, according to a senior councillor.
Cllr Joe Fagan (East Kilbride Central North), leader of the Labour group, is one of a number calling for improvement following “unprecedented” action by the Care Inspectorate.
A voluntary moratorium on new referrals is in place in Hamilton, and Rutherglen and Cambuslang, following poor inspection reports and a formal improvement notice being served on the Hamilton service.
Councillors were briefed on the issue at a meeting of the council’s executive committee on Wednesday, January 29.
After the meeting, Cllr Fagan said: “The findings of these inspections are grave and serious. Never before have any South Lanarkshire Council home care services received such poor reports and never before has one of the council’s home care services been issued with an improvement notice or subject to a moratorium.
“This is totally unprecedented and swift action must be taken. There are challenging questions for the council, for the leadership of the council and for the health and social care partnership.
“I don’t believe anyone appreciated the full scale of the problem, despite concerns from frontline workers. We have to get to the bottom of why there was such a disconnect between highlevel reporting at the council and what was happening on the ground to make sure this never happens again.
“Our home care workers provide a vital service day-in, day-out and they should not be exposed or placed in a vulnerable position because the system has broken down and failed them.
“The council need to fix home care so that it works properly for all service users but also for frontline staff – and they need to fix it now.
“There has to be a candid conversation about the integration of health and social care in this country too.
“The clear lines of accountability that governed decision-making and social care funding have been blurred and across the whole country we have reports of under-resourced and overworked services.
“That is simply not sustainable and it is not good enough for the people in need of care.”
A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership said they are working closely with the Care Inspectorate to make improvements.
They added: “An action plan for the Hamilton service was presented to elected members in October and the social work resource committee was advised on December 11 that an action plan for Rutherglen and Cambuslang was also being prepared.
“As elected members were advised on January 29, the council and health and social care partnership continue to work to make the improvements identified by the Care Inspectorate, and that as part of this effort a voluntary moratorium on new referrals has been implemented.
“The fundamental aim is to ensure that all parts of the care at home service reach the high standards that are required and that service users and their families quite rightly expect.
“Indeed, the council has more than 50 registered social care services which achieve high Care Inspectorate grades and positive endorsement through the Customer Service Excellence programme, including a number where the service is rated as excellent.
“Just last month the Care Inspectorate advised that the East Kilbride Care at Home service had retained its high grading scores of ‘good’ and ‘very good.’”
A spokesperson for the SNP added: “This is a very challenging and serious matter. The council leadership are working closely with senior officers to ensure the action plan which was agreed with the Care Inspectorate is implemented fully and at pace.
“This has been a long-term problem, but we are determined to ensure the steps taken now will give confidence and provide a long-term sustainable and quality service.”