Residents To Have Their Say On Domiciliary Care For Older People

Residents have the chance to influence how domiciliary care for older people can best be provided in future. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A consultation has been launched so people can have their say on proposals to redesign care at home services to help people to live as independently as they can. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cllr Jane Harris, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Services for Adults and Vulnerable People, said: “We think domiciliary care services need to adapt to continue to ensure older people receive quality support to live as independently as possible at home as long as they can. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“While people are living longer and have more complex care needs, we know that most people still prefer to live in the familiar surroundings of their own home. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“We want to provide the best possible services to help people to do this and, despite financial challenges and growing demand, we believe we can do this if we redesign the services in the right way. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“We also want to work together with partners including the private sector to make sure care workers have the right support, skills and working conditions to enable them to get the best possible outcomes for the people who need their help.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Council has listened to residents including those who use existing services and their relatives and carers, care workers and others, about what they think works well now and will work well in future. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

It has used these views to look at how it can best take services forward and has drawn up proposals to enable the delivery of the right support at the right time and in the right place. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The proposals include: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

• Re-designing the existing short-term service to be more timely and accessible for those people who would benefit from help to learn or relearn skills necessary for daily living. This could be after a stay in hospital, for example. This is known as a reablement service.
• Exploring the potential to re-design the existing long-term services to include a rapid response service and a specialist dementia service.
• Re-designing the way contracts are drawn up to ensure that the same service can be delivered no matter where you live in Swansea and that less time is spent on travelling and more time is spent on care. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The consultation is now open until February 10, 2017. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

It’s available online at www.swansea.gov.uk/domcarereview and over 2,000 service users and care staff will also be sent copies by post. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​