There has been broad support for changes proposed by the Department of Health and Social Care to services it provides for older people over the next five years.
A summary of responses to a consultation, which ran in the summer of 2016, has been published and the feedback from the individuals and organisations that took part has been largely positive.
The consultation sought views from the public on what the Department sees as its options in addressing the challenges it faces in providing social services for older people as a result of the Island’s ageing population within current resources; specifically for the period 2016 – 2021.
The Island’s older population – those aged 65 and over – is expected to increase by 11.2% by 2019 and 20.3% by 2024. This is higher than projections for the United Kingdom.
In general terms the Department is proposing to continue its drive to deliver more services to people in their own homes and maximise their independence, in line with the Department’s five year health and social care strategy. This approach has seen success in recent years, just one example being the launch of a new Reablement Service in 2014.
As part of the consultation exercise the Department published a draft of its commissioning intentions for older people’s social care services which outlined how the Department intends to provide, structure and influence services to meet the needs of older people over the coming five years. It also identified gaps in the current provision and how the Department intends to address these. A number of comments have been taken on board and will be included in the final version of the document.
Member for Adult Social Care, Clare Bettison MHK, said:
'Our ageing population is a challenge but first and foremost something we should be proud of as a community. I would like to thank all those who took part in this important exercise. Listening to the views of the public is important and does help us fine tune policy. It is clear from the responses we received, both written and through workshops, that there is support to continue our efforts to improve community based care services for older people. This aligns with the wishes of older people who time and again make clear their desire to remain in their own homes and local communities as long as they can, rather than entering residential care.
'We can now finalise arrangements for the next phase of our work, in line with the Department’s five year strategy.
