Budget cutbacks discriminate against the elderly say critics

Published on Tuesday 21 October 2008 09:50

THE city council was today accused of "discriminating" against older people after announcing more service cutbacks to tackle a multi-million-pound black hole.

The cost-cutting measures include shelving plans to expand day care services for older residents, a review of how many care home places the authority can afford, and the deletion or suspension of nearly 40 posts in the health and social care department.

The action comes after a new analysis of the department's finances revealed "pressures" of 4 million this year.

Council chiefs today said the problems stemmed from the Capital's growing number of elderly residents, as well as the number of people with disabilities who are living longer.

Help the Aged Scotland spokesman Lindsay Scott said: "This is worrying. Why is it the vulnerable who suffer first?

"The council is taking the route of least resistance, and that concerns us – especially given that we've known for decades that we're facing an increasing elderly population.

"The quality (of care] will suffer, and this could discriminate against some elderly people. They can't blame the previous administration this time."

Similar problems emerged last year, shortly after the Lib Dem/SNP administration took control of the City Chambers.

The city's huge health and social care department introduced a limit on overtime, banned the use of agency workers, and blocked all new job appointments, apart from the most critical posts.

The latest analysis, taken after four months of this financial year, identified pressures such as 1.19m in the staffing budget, and overspends of 900,000 on domiciliary care, 600,000 on homes for older people and 200,000 on disability services.

Management action already being taken is expected to reduce this by 2.29m, with further reduction moves planned.

Delaying the expansion of day care services will save 400,000, and the equivalent of 34.9 full-time posts will be either deleted or suspended – including social workers and welfare rights officers – although the jobs are currently not filled due to the recruitment freeze, and were described as "non-critical" by the council.

Future work will include "maximising income", reviewing transport provision to reduce the use of external hires, and the review of both in-house and purchased care home places.

A council spokeswoman said: "Due to the demographic change the department is facing significant financial pressures, which are not going to go away, therefore it is essential that there is strict budget control to achieve our goals. A range of management actions have been put in place."