The steering group which is charged with delivering under this Scottish Government initiative is consolidating aspects of its work as we progress towards implementation.
The Change Fund – which is not a grant making fund and should more properly be termed a Plan for Transition – is responsible for shifting the balance of care for older people across Argyll and Bute’s many rural communities. The fund is designed to promote the objectives of the Scottish Government policy – Reshaping Care for Older People (details are available on the Scottish Government website).
Much work has gone into identifying the various strands which will form part of a coherent approach to the shift in care placing far more emphasis on what happens in terms of prevention, support and interventions in the community. For this area, our geographic challenges, as with so many services, were and are a feature of debate. The group wished to ensure equity and to make the best use of a limited amount within a relatively short timeframe. The challenge was to ensure as far as possible that sums in the order of £3 for every £1 invested would be disinvested alongside supports and services which brought about significant improvement.
The various workstrands which make up the whole are all interlinked and it has been challenging to make sometimes hard decisions. The time taken to reach the current stage reflects the will and commitment to be confident of the mechanisms and approaches which form the overall plan.
Some of the workstrands progressing include aids and adaptations, initiatives in self-management and anticipatory care and palliative and end of life care. We are fortunate in Argyll & Bute that we have co-operation and involvement across a range of Council and Health areas and the independent sector where an increasing role is likely within care at home. There are opportunities for closer working between independent and third sector and with our colleagues in the public sector. The third sector is closely involved and some work will involve carers and actions from carer centres, community capacity and resilience and further work to underpin the Dementia Strategy involving Alzheimer Scotland.
With all sectors working together we are able to share resources, for example within falls prevention where Health will take a lead and where staff and a wide range of volunteers can be involved and trained. A number of strands work in preventing hospital admissions and readmissions; telecare will be strengthened and further work will look at anticipatory care and polypharmacy (the prescribing of multiple medications) to support people to remain in their own homes for longer, to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and reduce the requirement for residential care.
Currently, discussions and plans continue and as yet there is not a Project Manager in place. However, the intention is that this will be addressed relatively shortly and will herald the deployment of a range of initiatives.
Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) programme in Argyll & Bute
Workforce development is just one of the many strands or workstreams within this exciting programme to shift the balance of care away
from institutional and residential to community or homely settings.
As part of the workforce development strand, plans are under way to survey the training needs of organisations whose work involves or
touches on the support of older people in our communities. This will include public, third and independent sector staff and volunteers and work is being led by David Rennie Consultants with input from across the sectors.
Shortly, there will be a survey monkey circulated and we would like to encourage as many organisations as possible to take part in this
in order to build on existing information about the training and development needs in this area.
We will post information once this survey goes live.
We will keep people updated with progress and extend coverage over the coming months.
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