Cllr. Clifford Morris - "Bolton's Ageing Population - Best Value Provision"

This is the text of the talk by Cllr. Clifford Morris, Branch member and Bolton Council's Portfolio Holder for Social Services taken directly from the Deane-Cum-Heaton Labour Party's Branch minutes.

Clifford opened by thanking the Branch for giving him the opportunity to detail the authority's policy on how best to care for Bolton's ageing population.

The review has been undertaken as part of the study of all the Council's departments to ensure that the best provision is being made and that Council Tax holders are getting "Best Value".

He said that the provision currently being made must be challenged. Bolton has over 1,000 people in residential care of whom 296 are in the Council's own homes. Altogether there are about 500 in residential and nursing care, 138 in specialised nursing beds and approximately 500 being cared for at home. There is a total of nine homes of varying types and our residential care is much more expensive to provide than that of the independent sector. We have been severely criticised for the cost effectiveness of our provision.

Clifford said that the plan revolved around ensuring that those who need specialised care, e.g. those suffering from Dementia, receive the care that they need. At present we have no specialist residential centres for people so afflicted.

The authority has also been criticised for having too many people in residential care and not enough being looked after in their own homes. There is a programme of assessment and rehabilitation being carried out in conjunction with the Health Authority but this could be done in the Council's own homes as more people are cared for in their own homes. He said that there is an 80% success rate with people going through rehabilitation. Therefore a number of the authority's homes will become Assessment and Rehabilitation Centres.

The real problem is the provision of care for Dementia sufferers. In one of the Council's homes 90% of the residents suffer from this affliction and the staff have and are being specifically trained to look after them properly. The "Best Value" plan will see two of the Council's homes turned into specialist care places for such residents and a third 40 bed unit will be established in conjunction with the independent sector.

At least one of the Council's remaining homes will stay open but costs will have to be reduced and Clifford said that that would have to involve "looking at" the terms of service of the staff involved. He affirmed that this would be done officially through their union.

Overall it would appear that two of the Council's home will disappear altogether but one of these currently has only nine non-Dementia residents. All the remaining centres will be extensively upgraded to deal with their new roles.

Provision for the elderly ethnic minority residents is also being looked at but there are only very small numbers involved, actually just three or four in residential care of about 30 being looked after by the authority.

Clifford said that we also have to look at the home care the Council provides and make sure that those who need assistance are getting the best possible care, whether this is through the authority or in conjunction with independent organisations.

Pauline, speaking from recent personal experience, was very critical of the private sector and said that the provision they give is nowhere near as good as the Council's own homes. Clifford said that this is why we want to upgrade the specialist homes for care of the mentally ill.

Amal said that failure of Councils to provide adequate care often resulted in "bed blocking" at hospitals. Clifford said that the new Assessment and Rehabilitation Centres should help to overcome this. He added that Bolton actually has fewer "bed blocking" problems than other authorities.

Pauline said that it's always best for elderly people to remain in their own homes for a long as possible and take all the help available from Social Services, respite care, etc. Residential care should be viewed only as a last resort.

John (Cross) spoke on behalf of carers. He said that their average age is 40 - 45. In the next 10 years 16 - 25% of the population will be over 65 and the number of people in their eighties will double. Clifford said that the Government has been quite good to carers over the last few years. There is a Carers' Forum and grants have been made available. John was very critical of the Carers' Forum and the consultation that took place on dispersal of the grants. He described the consultation exercise as "tokenism". Pauline expressed strong satisfaction for the help provided by the Bolton Support Group for Carers. Clifford said that he'd take on board John's comments about consultation with carers.

The discussion continued with a number of other comments and questions.

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