This in from the council, in their own words, Ed
The council has not increased its charges for five years, which has resulted in a growing gap between the cost of delivering the service and recovering income.
The consultation details options to raise charges by £4 a week (including an option to do so on a staggered basis over a two-year period). Currently Wightcare provides three levels of service, ranging from £2.65 to £7 per week, dependent on the support required.
The online version of the consultation can be found on the council’s Website. All service users have also been written to offering options on how they can complete the questionnaire, as well as support to help them.
Register your views
Executive member for adult social care, Councillor Steve Stubbings, said:
“We would strongly encourage all service users and others with an interest in the Wightcare service to register their views as part of this consultation.
“Wightcare provides a vital, high quality service to protect, support and reassure Island residents – and we are determined that in shaping the way ahead, we attract as comprehensive a response as possible to this consultation.
“The proposals in this consultation are very much influenced by the income deficit approaching £500,000 faced by the Wightcare service – and as a result we have had to closely consider Wightcare’s financial viability as part of the overall major funding pressures placed upon the council.
“The consultation will help us to fully consider the impact these proposals will have on service users before coming to any final decision.”
Wightcare’s services
Wightcare provides a 24-hours a day, 365-days a year emergency support service to approximately 2,300 vulnerable residents on the Island. It enables residents to maintain their independence through the community alarm/telecare service – with a call monitoring and mobile response service for emergencies also available.
Wightcare also operates the call answering service for the council’s out-of-hours provision for adult social care, housing and some other services – as well as call answering for various partner agencies.
Factors which have led to the increased cost of running the service, include fuel costs, equipment, insurance, maintenance costs and inflation.
Some clients have also required a significant level of mobile response support due to their complex care needs, which has meant that these cases are more cost intensive.
As part of the consultation all current subscribers have been written to this week and offered the chance to complete the questionnaire either online or using a paper copy. Support is available to assist with the questionnaire – and also for those with visual impairment or a learning disability.
Stakeholder groups are also being consulted, including People Matter IW.
Image: Images of Money under CC BY 2.0
