Scottish Parliament update Jan/Feb 07

MINISTERS QUESTION TIME

Carers Strategy – 22 February

Cathy Peattie (Lab – Falkirk East) asked the Executive whether it will provide an update on the development of its strategy for carers. Pointed out that respite care is vital for carers but its provision is patchy across the country. Asked if ring fenced funding would be considered for work around caring.

Lewis Macdonald (Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care) the Executive are taking forward work on the four agreed strategic priorities of respite care for carers, young carers, carer health and carer training. A task group is considering a number of issues around respite care. There are new incentives for general practitioners to identify carers and refer them for relevant support and carer information strategies will be put in place at health board level throughout the NHS from April. He added that it was up to local authorities to determine how funding is allocated.

Euan Robson (LD – Roxburgh and Berwickshire) asked if the Minister agreed that there is a need to invest more in carers centres, especially where there are no carers centres or where they are finding it financially difficult to continue.
Lewis Macdonald carers centres provide a valuable part of the support that exists and local authorities are expected to work with the voluntary sector which is responsible for providing much of that support.

Nanette Milne (Con – North East Scotland) more than half of all carers are yet to receive an individual assessment of their personal needs. Asked what the Executive was doing to put this right.
Lewis Macdonald we are working with local authorities and health boards, encouraging them to co-ordinate provision of services and to carry out assessments on an agreed basis.

Free Personal Care (reimbursement of charges) – 8 February

Bill Aitken (Con – Glasgow) asked the Executive what discussions it had with local authorities about the reimbursement of people who have been wrongly charged by local authorities for assistance with meal preparation. Asked the Minister to meet with local authorities who have failed to comply as a matter of urgency.

Lewis Macdonald charges to service users are matters for individual councils to address. On the question of assistance with food preparation – when simple tasks are undertaken to assist people with an assessed need for such services – the position has been clear since the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002. Local authorities should act on their responsibilities and if they are not sure what their responsibilities are they should follow the example of the City of Edinburgh Council – take legal advice and act on it.

Free Personal Care (waiting lists) – 11 January

Shona Robison (SNP – Dundee East) asked the Minister what action he would take now to end waiting lists which have been operated by three quarters of Scotland’s local authorities.

Lewis Macdonald it is for the local authorities to take action. We will continue to work with local authorities that are struggling to meet their statutory requirements to provide them with appropriate advice and support so that they can address problems. There will be circumstances when a service cannot be delivered instantly and it will take a little time to put the service in place. That is appropriate as long as the authority is seeking to out the service in place, is managing any waiting list and is providing whatever partial service is essential in the meantime.

LEGISLATION

Adult Support and Protection Bill – 15 February

This Bill has now been passed by the Scottish Parliament. It gives new powers and responsibilities to local agencies to investigate any risk of harm or abuse to adults living in care homes or in the community. The new powers are intended to remove uncertainties about duty to act and make it possible to investigate allegations of any form of mistreatment. In exceptional circumstances the person at risk can be moved temporarily to a place of safety and the perpetrators can be excluded. Any actions taken must be to the benefit of the individual concerned. There has been much debate about the balancing of protecting the individual without removing their rights.

Local authorities will be placed under a duty to create multi agency adult protection committees to oversee adult protection work and to monitor its effectiveness. Part 1 of the Bill is concerned with adult protection. Part 2 and 3 clarify aspects of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

Evaluation of the operation and impact of free personal care – 28 February

The findings of an independent report into the policy of free personal care (FPC) have been published and are available on the Executives website (click the link below for the full report or the summary report). The research aimed to present a picture of the operation of FPC across Scotland. The funding and cost of FPC was not examined as part of this research.
The reports findings include:

• The system works well in the vast majority of cases and most have received the FPC payments or personal care services without undue delay.
• Levels of awareness of FPC amongst the general public are relatively low. Most people’s knowledge of FPC is informed by the media.
• There is strong public support for both personal and non personal care being provided free to all older people who need help. Over 60% believed that frail older people should be offered FPC to help them continue living in their own home, as long as they choose, whatever the cost to the public purse.
• Around half of Scotland’s local authorities reported operating waiting lists for assessments to be completed, mainly due to lack of staff to meet the demand for assessments. No local authority reported that assessments are being delayed because of funding pressures on their budget for providing FPC.
• Nine local authorities operate a ‘cap’ or limit on home care packages and a further five authorities operate a formal process to review the cost of home care packages that reach a threshold level. The cap on home care packages is usually set at around the gross cost of a care home place.
• Informal carers undertake a wide range of tasks for the individuals for whom they care. FPC has helped to support carers in their caring role and enabled them to continue caring in other ways.
• There has been a substantial increase (74%) in the number of older people receiving FPC at home since it was first introduced and a shift in the balance of publicly provided care from non-personal care to personal care.

Full Report

Summary Report