Ethel and Manchester Council's Social Care Consultation

"Example 2: Ethel uses an electric scooter to go out independently but is worried that she will get lost and not be able to find her way home and therefore has stopped going out. In future we propose to use GPS technology to support Ethel to maintain her independence.”

Following on from the cuts to Manchester City Council’s budget of £110 million this year (2011/2012), an additional £60 million is being sought for 2012/13.

Within this, the Council’s ‘Directorate for Adults’ is expected to reduce its budget by £39.5 million (slide 5).

As part of these reductions the Council is running a consultation exercise on some of its proposed changes to its Social Care services and charging policy. Some aspects of this changes appear to be

• Greatly reducing the level at which users start paying for services
• A much greater emphasis on home based care
• Increased use of ‘reablement’ support and prevention
• Use of technology and innovation.

On an initial reading the two elements that stand out the most from the ‘Directorate for Adults

Consultation: Changes to Social Care Provision. Guidance and information to help you complete

the questionnaire’ paper are

1. Ethel (above)
2. Another example: “some people with dementia get a visit 4times a day to remind them to get up, eat, take medication. Some people have found that a text alert reminds them to complete these tasks without the need for a visit.”

It may be reasonable comment say the 2 examples are minor in a whole range of things written but this writer would point out

• though the papers have lots of ideas about ‘what could happen’, it is difficult to make out what the changes are going to actually going to be for its users. What is plain, and not in the consultation papers is the number of services that will no longer be funded from 2012 (see table at the end of the paper)
• though the lowering of the threshold for payment is clear, how much extra it will cost people is not
• that usually, when trying to persuade in a debate, the most convincing, positive examples are used. As an illustration of innovation in the new services, these, 1) and 2) seem poor.
• the council does not indicate if it will trial any of these ideas first. Will GPS really help Ethel get home?
• The Council doesn’t indicate if it will merge services with other local authorities to achieve economies of scale. It has already done this with its legal services and is considering several more departments.

There are currently 2 consultations both of which end on Monday August 8^th

· Changes to Social Care Provision

· Charging for Social Care

If you have an opinion, there is still a chance voice it, especially in the supplementary questions.