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1240/5(6960)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. OUEN
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 26th JUNE 2012
Question
Will the Minister provide a detailed and itemised breakdown of how the extra funding of £1,758,000 for 2012 recently allocated by the Minister for Treasury and Resources will be used to provide immediate additional support to our Island's health and social services and in particular identify precisely which essential community based front line services will benefit from the additional funding and by how much?
Answer
HSSD is currently finalising detailed plans and costings and subjecting them to a rigorous process of internal review and scrutiny. It is envisaged that this work will be completed over the comings weeks and at that point the information will be made available to all States members. HSSD is also working with the Treasury to ensure a system is in place to hold HSSD to account for how this money is used.
Subject to final clarification it is envisaged that the broad areas of activity will include:
Managing capacity pressures in the Hospital through intermediate provision – approximately £700,000
At present Islanders who are not well enough to be at home are often admitted to hospital, or kept in hospital, simply because of the lack of viable, appropriate alternatives. HSSD is therefore intending to commence work with the independent sector in order to support provision of 'step up' and 'step down' beds (ie. care facilities outside the hospital which act as a bridge between acute care and home). In addition Islanders will be offered appropriate 24/7 support services in their own homes, allowing them to return home quicker and stay at home longer.
This is better for patients and also opens up capacity in the hospital to treat other Islanders.
Spend in this area will include some of the specialist staff and equipment required to support such provision.
End of life care – approximately £200,000
This money will enable community based third sector organisations to provide support and services for people at the end of their lives.
Improved respite – approximately £200,000
This money will be made available to extend respite care services for both adult and children, in order to support them and their families.
Improved services for adults – approximately £100,000
This money will be help support the restructuring of existing services for homeless adults thus ensuring improved provision for this vulnerable group.
Workforce planning and recruitment - £150,000
It is a well documented fact that HSSD faces particular challenges associated with the recruitment and retention of staff. These are further complicated by the need to recruit approximately 145 additional FTE posts in 2013 and to undertake urgent medical manpower planning in order to deal with the significant number of clinical staff coming up to retirement.
HSSD will therefore invest these monies in additional short-term capacity to support existing clinical teams to develop robust workforce plans plus provide essential training and skills development.
Implementing the White Paper Changes - approximately £400,000
HSSD is undertaking an ambitious and complex change programme in partnership with key stakeholders and external service providers. Central to this is the development of detailed implementation plans, which need to be in place the end of 2012. Professionals with specialist planning skills are required to support our clinical staff, third sector partners and other service to develop and test these plans. The skills and capacity required are not available within HSSD existing workforce.