HEALTH and social care services across the region are facing unprecedented financial challenges – with officials calling on the public to help ease the pressure.
At a meeting of the region’s Integration Joint Board (IJB) which delivers the strategic direction to the NHS and Local Authority, members were briefed on the financial position for the first quarter of 2024.
The update highlighted serious budgetary challenges and prompted calls for the public to be more aware of the mounting crisis.
Chairman of the IJB Andy McFarlane warned of the difficult road ahead, and said: “Health and adult social care services in our region are facing major financial challenges.
“The NHS alone is tasked with finding £18.3 million in savings for the 2024/25 budget, on top of the very significant savings they’ve already made in recent years. The local authority is also grappling with tough decisions.”
The IJB received and agreed the financial accounts for 2023/24 and reviewed a report on recent spending. However, members stressed that the public has a critical role to play in addressing the financial situation.
Mark Kelly, the region’s Director of Nursing, noted that while many people have been encouraged to rely on a wide range of services, they must now consider the real costs of maintaining them. He called on individuals to reflect on how they can contribute to cost-saving measures, and encouraged them to submit ideas.
Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway Chief Executive Alan Webb urged that the solution lies not just in services, but in everyone’s broader approach to health and social care.
One area of particular concern raised at the meeting was the rising cost of medications and prescriptions.
Mr McFarlane said: “Medication is a significant expense. When you consider the cost of filling a prescription and multiply that by thousands of people each month, it places enormous pressure on costs – and all of these costs have to be met out of the local NHS budget.”
He added: “We’re asking people to review their medications. If you’re receiving medicines you no longer need, or if you’re getting more than necessary, speak to your pharmacist. A small action like this can make a big difference—and if everyone did it, the impact could be substantial.”
Other business at the meeting included discussions on commissioning flexible intermediate care beds, which was agreed as an approach late last year following formal public consultation. Members were advised that work is currently on track to deliver an initial 25 beds in care homes. These beds can be employed for a range of care uses, including step-up, step-down, respite, palliative and end-of-life care. Consideration is also being given to sourcing the use of flexible intermediate care beds from a new supported living service in Stranraer.
Members were told that the initial 25 flexible intermediate care beds would start being introduced from October, with an aim to be in place by March.
A decision was meanwhile taken to continue delivery of a nurse-led 5-day service providing residential short breaks and support to children and young people up to 18 years with complex disabilities and/or profound health care needs and challenging behaviour, and their families/carers, achieving a £200,000 saving while opening the door to expanding services.
In addition, a longstanding question over maternity services in Wigtownshire was resolved as members considered the responses to a formal public consultation, deciding to retain the current arrangements for maternity services in Wigtownshire for the foreseeable future – a home birth model, with no birthing facility at Galloway Community Hospital.
At the start of the IJB meeting, members welcomed a new member in the form of local councillor Linda Dorward, who succeeds Paula Stephenson.
Interim Chief Officer of Dumfries and Galloway Health and Social Care Partnership Nicole Hamlet said: “Today was a busy and productive meeting.
“Some very important decisions were made, amid a great deal of well-informed discussion and debate.
“I want to thank everyone who took part in today’s meeting, and contributed to our understanding of the situation, and all those who wrote the reports that came to us today for consideration. Also, a warm welcome to Linda Dorward as a new IJB member.
“One thing to emerge is a recognition that, with the financial situation becoming increasingly precarious, the IJB has a clear message: public involvement is essential in sustaining health and social care services in the region.”
