Shona Robison urged to increase support for health and social care in Argyll and Bute

Increased support for health and social care across Argyll and Bute has been demanded from the Scottish Government.

Council leader Aileen Morton is writing to Health Secretary Shona Robison urging her to support Argyll and Bute’s Health and Social Care Partnership.

In the last financial year local demand for health and social care services exceeded the partnership’s budget by over £2.5m.

Budget limitations mean the partnership, as well as addressing this overspend, must make an additional £2m savings in 2018-19.

The council says that the local situation is reflected across Scotland with the vast majority of HSCPs recording an overspend, to a reported total of around £67m.

Councillor Morton said: “ We all want the HSCP to succeed as a provider of services that evolve and develop to match the changing needs of local people.

“We have done all we can as a council to protect and support social work services.

“Councils are having to make very difficult decisions to meet budget challenges. “Despite this we have increased our spend on social work services by 1.08% since 2014/15, in comparison to 4.27% overall reduction in the budget for all other council services.

“The HSCP however faces a tough combination of challenges. To meet them, the HSCP needs more than the support of the council and NHS. It also needs the support of the Scottish Government.

“We welcome the indication of transformation support given by the Scottish Government. In addition, I will be writing to the Cabinet Secretary to outline the unique position of our HSCP here in Argyll and Bute, to highlight that budget pressures are preventing the timescales needed for community-driven transformation, and to ask the Scottish Government to consider reassessing the funding levels provided.”

The unique combination of challenges facing the Argyll and Bute HSCP were highlighted at a council meeting today as:

• a shrinking and aging population, which increases demand while creating difficulties in the recruitment and retention of staff
• delivery across a huge geographic area, including 23 inhabited islands
• a substantial proportion of the budget outwith their direct control (such as GP contracts, and recharges from other health boards)
• maintaining core local hospital, acute and GP out of hours services in multiple rural hospitals with unique recruitment challenges and cost burdens