Elderly’s services in spotlight
Public to have their say
The future of older people’s healthcare in south Perthshire and Kinross-shire came under the spotlight at two meetings on Friday last week.
And today residents in Kinross are being invited to have their say on moves to revamp services, including by stepping up care being provided closer to home.
NHS Tayside hosted two events for Strathearn and Strathallan in Crieff and Auchterarder, where staff laid out some of the proposed forthcoming changes to services and asked for feedback on what people want from the future of care in the area.
The model of delivering care is being re-designed, following on from similar revamps in the Blairgowrie and north Perthshire areas, with the focus on providing support to older people with the condition outside of hospital, either at home or through an enhanced service in a care home.
Around 30 people attended the Crieff event held at the Strathearn Community Campus. Representatives of NHS Tayside, South Perthshire locality manager Lindsey Bailie, and social services were on hand to discuss the issues.
Perth and Kinross inpatient service manager Maggie Rapley started the meeting by answering questions on the future of ward one at Crieff Community Hospital.
The ward is for dementia patients, but has been in non-operational status - meaning without a single admission - since January this year.
Prior to that an average of two patients a month were being admitted.
Ms Rapley explained that a decision on the ward was still to be made, and this would rest with members of the Perth and Kinross Social Care Partnership and the integrated joint board.
NHS Tayside representatives then went on to explain that the Strathmore model, a project centred on dementia Crieff Community Hospital
care in the Blairgowrie area which was a pilot case for the Scottish Government, had been in place since 2010.
The meeting also said that as well as care being provided at home, it was planned for those in care homes to receive improved care. NHS Tayside staff said that dementia-specific care, including for health and well-being activities, is being promoted.
Attendees were asked to comment on how they would like the scheme to work, and also what changes they think are necessary to see the transfer of dementia care.
Key issues were better communication with residents on the proposals. Residents also spoke of their hopes that the care at home service
could ensure that care staff visiting clients were not frequently changed, a problem which has been well publicised in other parts of Scotland.
Service representatives also said that there were issues with recruitment in some health sectors, but for areas such as Crieff, this was less of a problem.
NHS Tayside also agreed to find out what existing organisations there were in the Crieff area which could help with the ongoing well-being of older people. It was stated that there are around 120, which sparked surprise with many there.
Residents in the Kinross area can air their views on the future of healthcare on Tuesday between 10am and noon, at Loch Leven Community Campus.