The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Freeman fearing cash shortage will hit Fife’s health and social care
Health secretary spells out her concerns in annual review of health board
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has voiced her fear that a cash shortage will hit Fife’s health and social care.
She urged NHS Fife to help find a solution to the “legacy” deficit of the integration joint board overseeing the work of Fife’s Health and Social Care Partnership.
Ms Freeman spelled out her concern in her annual review of the health board, in which she also urged members to meet more regularly with clinicians and improve its smoking cessation rate.
The MSP also highlighted failures to meet the waiting time target for mental health services for children and adolescents and the 62-day referral to treatment for cancer target.
She praised staff professionalism and “excellent” work by NHS Fife during 2017/28, which included reducing hospital infections and consistently meeting the four-hour target for unscheduled care.
In a letter to health bosses she reported repeatedly hearing that an underlying pressure was the financial position of the partnership between NHS Fife and Fife Council, caused mainly by the rising cost of adult social care and drug prescriptions.
However, she said: “A clear additional pressure is the deficit with which the IJB (the partnership’s integration joint board) began. I remain concerned that this ‘legacy’ deficit will continue to hamper the IJB in progressing its necessary work to meet our shared national and local objectives.”
She is negotiating with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to address the situation and requested “cooperation from the board to assist me finding a reasonable and proportionate resolution”.
The partnership has predicted an overspend for the year of £10.9 million.
A turnaround consultant has been brought in to review the service and identify areas for improvement.
NHS Fife and Fife Council share the cost of health and social care services, which include care home places, home care and GP prescribing.
NHS Fife chairwoman Tricia Marwick said: “There’s no doubt that the social care package part of health and social care is rising quite considerably and that needs to be properly funded.
“We need to make sure that the packages provided are appropriate. There’s plenty of work ongoing at the moment.
“We simply can’t have a situation where it keeps rising, rising, rising.”
Ms Freeman said considerable work was under way to improve waiting times for children and adolescent mental health services and that the government’s cancer delivery team was working with Fife to boost is performance in treating cancer within 62 days of referral.
I remain concerned that this ‘legacy’ deficit will continue to hamper the IJB... JEANE FREEMAN