Wightcare, the Isle of Wight council-run service that supports Islanders to live independently at home, was recognised as the “jewel in Adult Social Care’s crown” at last night’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee.
It was explained that the small incremental rises in Wightcare fees is required to balance the “ever-pinching” adult social care budget and return to “some basis of fiscal responsibility and morality”.
Cllr Chris Quirk (Con) asked whether a risk assessment had been carried out and questioned whether the rises could lead to people not using the service and therefore have a knock-on effect to others areas of Adult Social Care.
Jarman: Running at a sustained and increasing deficit
Cllr Chris Jarman (Alliance) explained that the service is running on an annual deficit of around £380,000 and that for many years the council has also been subsiding the capital components of the service by £100k per year.
He added that this figure doesn’t include all the costs, there are others related to fleet management for example. He said,
“It has been running at a sustained and increasing deficit for quite some time.”
Jarman: Increases are quite modest considering deficit
Cllr Jarman explained that if the local authority were to try and catch up with that all in one go, the impact would be quite dramatic and detrimental. He said phasing of rises will return to “some basis of fiscal responsibility and morality” with small incremental increases on fees.
“The increases are quite modest considering the deficit we are running.”
He added it was a “a very valuable service” and that the Alliance are committed to build on and improve this service. He said he can only foresee it becoming more desirable to Islanders, than less.
Gaudion: Detailed piece of work goes on behind any rise in fees
Laura Gaudion, the Interim Director for Adult Social Care and Housing Needs, said any change to any funding arrangements would have an impact on those using the services and it was one they should never ignore.
She explained that wherever an increase in fees is proposed, there’s a detailed piece of work that goes on behind that to ensure the council are able to support people in financial hardship, but also how the calculate any mandatory contributions towards their care and support.
Ms Gaudion said their calculations are based on an 80 per cent retention rate, but later added they thought it was more likely to be 95 per cent.
Robertson: How is it consistent with supporting people living at home?
Cllr Joe Robertson (Con) said he didn’t understand how an increase in Wightcare costs was consistent with supporting people living at home.
He suggested that if you increase the cost of service that’s going “encourage people to do other things, if there’s a pinch point in affordability”.
Gaudion: Considerably cheaper than a care home
As anyone who has had to pay for residential care or nursing home fees will know, remaining at home and paying for someone to come to you is a considerably more cost-effective method.
Ms Gaudion replied to Cllr Robertson’s question by saying,
“Living at home is considerably cheaper and more cost-effective than living in supported, residential and nursing care. What we need to do is ensure we are utilising our very scarce adult social care funds to discharge our statutory duties.
“Wightcare service is incredibly valuable to us and the community, but it does impact on our ability to discharge some of those statutory functions.
“As our budget becomes tighter we have to become ever-increasingly aware of spending the very limited funds that we have.
“For a service people can purchase from other providers it feels like a wise decision to see where we can reduce the level of subsidy that we make and better support our statutory duties.”
Gaudion: “The jewel in Adult Social Care’s crown”
Cllr Warren Drew (Con) asked to what extent can build out the deficit, looking at commercial options and finding other ways of using the brand.
Ms Gaudion said that Wightcare service is “the jewel in Adult Social Care’s crown”.
“The services they deliver are so valuable to our community that it’s something we are looking at expanding in the future, and considering commercial options, but all of that takes time. At the moment the ever-pinching budget is our more pressing concern.”
Image: National Cancer Institute under CC BY 2.0
