Change is inevitable in health services in Argyll and Bute, a councillor has warned as the area’s health board prepares to set its budget for the year.
Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has started a consultation, asking people in the area to explain their priorities as part of its budget-setting process.
But Argyll and Bute Council’s depute leader Gary Mulvaney, a member of the HSCP’s integration joint board (IJB), warned that changes will have to be made due to the effects of Covid-19.
Cllr Mulvaney also said the effects of the pandemic were set to be around for ‘a considerable period of time’ and that a clear forward route must be established by the HSCP.
The consultation is open until February 19, and the IJB will set the HSCP’s budget for the year on March 24.
Gary Mulvaney: ‘Challenging’.Cllr Mulvaney said: “We have a reasonable consultation that tries to pick up some of the essential elements of what we are trying to do.
“It is always difficult in these consultations, because those asking don’t necessarily have all the information, while we have as board members.
“They don’t see the budget monitoring strategic plan, they don’t see all the various information we get. Sometimes there is frustration to stop consulting and just to get on and do what we are supposed to.
“But the responses we get from our communities are good. As board members, we need to be able to set that in context and there are some things in there people will find challenging.
“That is just where we are – there are things that will be changing and have got to change. One thing Covid has taught us is that this will be around for a considerable period of time.
“Things that have come from the pandemic will not just disappear in a matter of months and we have to change how we do things long-term.
“Change can be difficult and our key thing is to map out the future to get people a very clear indication of what the future looks like.”
The consultation, available through Argyll and Bute Council’s website, also asks respondents what they view as the HSCP’s most important role.
Cllr Kieron Green, the IJB’s chair, introduces the consultation by saying: “The resources available to the HSCP are declining in real terms year on year.
“We cannot simply continue to provide the same services in the same ways. We have to find efficiencies, transform how we operate, and do less going forward.
“These are difficult choices, and there are no easy options left to reduce our spending. We would really value your views to help us make the best decisions that will affect all of our lives.”
Another consultation from Argyll, this time on health. Regardless of the subject it’s always the same. Cuts to services provided are coming and you tell us what you want. Regardless of what you tell us front line services will be diminished and we will not like it.
I wonder how the budget is divvied up from Highland Health Board; is it a strict pounds per skull or is it pick a number? I wonder how the bills from Glasgow, the biggest part of the outgoings, are calculated; is every x-ray and scan counted and calculated or again is it pick a number? These numbers will be sacrosanct and the cuts will be to those employed directly in Argyll, the personal care staff, the community nurses and all the rest.
I understand the overall budgets are to be significantly increased but health is one of these bottomless pits that swallows cash. From time to time I get an appointment at the Vale of Leven Hospital, run and funded by Glasgow, and often have great difficulty finding a parking space. There are hundreds of cars in numerous car parks yet when you go inside there are lots of staff and only a few customers.
On one visit I went into one of the departments on a pre-admission visit. The person at the desk told to take a seat and I’m sure at that time I was the only customer in that particular department. Someone came out, called my name and I was taken into a room to answer a couple of questions then told to take a seat again, somebody else came out and called me into another room, I was asked a few more questions and was then free to go.
The care provided at the Vale is always really good but I’m sure it hangs on a shoogly nail. The costs must be enormous, as are the bills to Argyll, but there are few signs of the stress that we see in the many TV programs about the health service.