Council endorses Community Care at Home initiative
Joint NHS Highland – Highland Council News Release
Members of The Highland Council’s Education, Children and Adult Services Committee have today (Wed 26 October) endorsed the development of a Community Care at Home Development Fund that will support local initiatives.
In a joint report by NHS Highland’s Director of Strategic Commissioning, Planning and Performance, Simon Steer and Highland Council’s Director of Care and Learning, Bill Alexander described the development of an innovative approach to developing community based care at home services.
The Highland Council, and subsequently the NHS, has long experienced difficulty in recruiting sufficient people to provide care at home services in remote rural communities.
Over the last few years, however, a new model has been developed enabling communities to develop services in partnership with the NHS and established providers. This approach, which is now in place in several locations, has allowed services to be provided in places where, previously, none were in place.
The development of community based care at home services is now gaining momentum, however support needs to be provided to enable the spread and share of practice to assist those communities that are providing care; and for those who wish to visit to learn how to implement this model.
A fund of £10,000 has been made available to support the development of Community Care at Home Initiatives. The fund will be accessed through Care at Home Development staff currently working with communities, and will provide small scale grants to assist with visiting and set up costs.
Highland Council Leader, Cllr Margaret Davidson, said: “I was personally involved in developing the service that was spearheaded by the community Stratherrick and Foyers (Boleskin) and examples of this innovative approach are now appearing in Strathdearn; the Black Isle and Pulteney, to mention a few. I am greatly encouraged that the idea of working with communities in this way is being supported.”
David Alston, Chair of NHS Highland said: “This is a tremendous example of the way that looking at service provision differently can deliver better quality and better care without increasing costs. At the heart of this model lies the idea that people want to remain in their communities, and communities’ care that this happens.”
Bill Alexander, Highland Council’s Director of Care and Learning added: “Innovations of this type are just what we are looking for from integrating Health and Social Care and working closely with communities. The reality is that by working together over the last year, we have managed to resolve a problem that had been in place for a decade.”
Deborah Jones, NHS Highland’s Director of Strategic Commissioning; Planning and Performance said: “We want to get the message out to Communities that we are keen to work with them to provide care together. This approach is really beginning to make a difference in remote communities.”