A frontline team — which provides vital care to the sick and vulnerable during the night — is to be halved.
A decision was made by the Isle of Wight Council in the 2019/20 budget to save £2million in adult social care, including a £102,000 budget reduction of the Night Outreach Team. However, only now is the cut being implemented.
This will replace half the carers with equipment and machines — meaning only 2 people will be on duty across the whole Island on any night.
The Isle of Wight Council said the service was redesigned as it needed to change — providing care in less intrusive ways, utilising new technology, such as beds to turn patients in the night, with dignity and privacy paramount.
Patients have already seen the introduction of new equipment, but the team has said it does not work and expressed concerns cuts could add pressure on paramedics and social workers.
Members of the team say they feel senior managers and councillors do not want to talk to them and hoped someone would fight for them.
One said:
“The councillors made a decision and they were wrong. They have been advised they can get rid of us but they don’t know what we do, or how valuable we are to people.
Article continues below this advertisement “They keep saying social care is important but they are focusing on money, not people.”
Mark Chiverton, Unison representative at the council, said there had been a systematic starvation of service users as council bosses told other care providers not to refer people to the service.
The Isle of Wight Council said, however, the demand for the service has fallen due to the alternative equipment and technology being deployed.
Dr Carol Tozer, the council’s director of adult social care, said the Care Close to Home strategy focused on promoting independence, investing in technology to meet people’s needs:
“We have invested in beds which can automatically turn people at regular intervals minimising the risk of developing pressure sores and removing the need for a carer to have to physically attend the person during the night.”
Before the cuts were proposed, the night team used to care for 34 regular clients, before any extra crisis calls, but this number has fallen to 7 in the past 18 months as new users have dried up.
Dr Tozer said a review of the service was undertaken due to more Islanders choosing equipment over traditional care and with funding pressures in adult social care, nationally and locally, this has meant the council has had to make best use of every penny and pound available.
Mr Chiverton said the decision was wrong, dangerous and had not been thought through, ‘a hidden cut with no real public debate about the consequences of cutting the service’. He said:
“We want to see more open debate on this, involving the staff and councillors, so there can be a better understanding of what would be lost and how that might impact elsewhere within health and social care.”
The team are now trying to stop the cut, which could be enforced from the end of September, and are hoping to meet with Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely, and senior members of the council.
good – make the cuts and then reduce our council tax bills
Let’s hope the future doesn’t bring a situation for you to require this service or one of your parents or relations. You then might have a different outlook. But again I hope that you or any of your family won’t require the night team.
I bet your panicking now Zoltan Chivay.
Never panic my old chah walla gunga. Regards to you Field Marshall Windbag, Try posting something intelligent sometime. I know it’ll be hard but remember if you can that a lot of people will be badly affected by these cuts.
I’m waiting for Sleave sorry Steve to pop up, and you’ll be inline for help before me im sure old chap.
Surely this ‘care in the community’ failed experiment, is far more costly, by the time their individual homes, and home help and care is all paid for? Whilst the old style Asylums were huge Victorian buildings, a newly purpose built style ‘care home’ for such should be far more cost effective with a hundred or more per building if carefully planned out?
Ought to save cash by the vast sum spent on disabled cars. End such. Just pay for one food shopping trip, and the necessary doctor or hospital trips by taxi.
This would provide work for taxi drivers, and save us all thousands on buying a new car, then providing an individual parking space, paying to service and then to have to replace the car etc.
It would free up more road spaces for working people to park, rather than having the few times a week mobility car sat like an ornament outside for days on end.
Yes, I know the disabled choose to use their allotted benefits to pay for the car, but that ONLY proves they are getting way too much, for most workers cannot afford to buy a new car, so, ‘just’ because you have been dealt an unfortunate deal by nature, ought not mean ‘others’ have to compensate such to such a costly degree. Not many years since you would be just grateful you were given a home and enough food, not a new car etc.
Times are getting very hard again now, and those who will never sadly be in a position to contribute for their entire lives to society should equally bear the brunt of some of the necessary cut backs too, as the old and very ill will need the limited funds spent on them, being far more in need in almost all cases.
“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt” Advice, given by Mark Twain, that you should have taken.
.
This does also apply to YIGAF and his bumpal Steven.
Clearly hit a raw nerve there then. Truth hurts. IF the cap fits…wear it, Advice by Andy Capp, Daily Mirror.
The truth hurts? Like the truth that you are utter scum?
Nice come back, Andy.
I agree Marballs M, I know of several of these so called disability car owners whose family use such, and then the family member who should be looking after their disabled parent for free, get paid by the state, yet do almost nothing more than we all would do for love for our elderly parents anyway.
To prevent fraud, family members ought not be able to claim for looking out for close relatives as many are milking the system, hence the bile thrown when people such as you speak out the painful truth as few wish their immoral gravy train to be derailed.
Also much cash is wasted on taking out adults with learning issues on trips. This is an expensive luxury both they and us workers funding such, could well do without now.
Keep such people fed, treated and housed, is all the state should provide. Any extras should come from their benefits, charities or their families.
Whilst I strongly disagree it is good, IT ISN’T, cut backs never are, the spiralling costs of looking after and paying for ‘adult care’ needs to be severely cut.
Sure life won’t be as easy or quite as nice as it once was for such individuals, but the costly pleasures and luxuries need to be ended, such as carers taking such on trips out and as already mentioned new individual motor cars for people
The rest of society has had to cut back and forgo much of what we all not so long ago took for granted, and we work for it. So it is only reasonable for those even if through no fault of their own, who are only ever going to be taking ‘out’ of the diminishing pot, do their bit to.
I would rather these people who are in real pain, or dire need get help that some downs syndrome or similar special needs being taken to the beach or park by paid for care workers when their parents, relatives or charity groups could do such for free.
Needs must when the Devil drives. But never popular or ‘good’. Just a necessity now.
Got to pay for repairs to the floating bridge so have to make cuts
OK so we had a 70 year man attacked in Ryde by a 13 year old kid, and now Councillor “Pugwash” Stewart and his band or merry men decide to cut this service back, stupid, short sighted and ignorant are the only words I think the Island Echo would allow me to use. It’s good to see som of the councillors and for once Seely, trying to get this stopped, but it won’t get stopped because our esteemed council leader is an ex-cop, so in his own words “Don’t mess with him!” Disgusting decision.
‘Couldn’t agree more.
Scum council. Never mind, they have their fat pensions to look forward to.
I wouldn’t be so sure given the Council is on the brink of bankruptcy…
Bloody IOW Council. Not really fit to serve the people and the island. But they continue to take and expect us all to pay them our Council Taxes, then they decide to remove a vital service to the island just like that without any discussion and involving the appropriate people concerned. Disgusting.
Every year max council tax rise. Where the f@@@ is the money going?? Other councils manage.
Scrap the floating bridge.That will save hundreds of thousands £
More than that, I think.
Part of the recent increases in Council Tax have been specifically for Adult Social Care, and I fact those monies were (supposedly) Ring Fenced for that care.
How can the Council make cuts in a budget that was increased to serve those members of the Community that it was specifically destined for?
More ‘creative’ accounting in County Hall?
Too many now claiming disability, and as we import ever more from the corners of the Earth, then who do YOU think will pay for all these extras? Either has to be cut backs, OR more tax pressuring those hard working people.
First step to end third world immigration, second end overseas aid, third cut back on all those milking the system here already, then, and ONLY then, cut back on our genuine needy.
There is NO need for disabled people to have a brand new car, unless it comes from their own savings. They should never be better off than those working, for it just encourages even more to milk our benefit system.
The tax payer should not be forced to ‘compensate’ the undoubted pain, angst, and misery that genuine disabled people feel.
That is for charity and family and the NHS to deal with, not throw tax payers cash at them, for times are hard now for many and keeping half the worlds poor here is now meant such is unaffordable.
New technology to cut the number of carers ! ! !
So where is the NEW technology to cut the Councillors?
They do not appear to represent the people of the Island, so lets cut their numbers and see how they like it.
awful! poor vulnerable people
Appalling. Another deeply unpopular cut sledgehammered through regardless of the human consequences, basically to cover the losses this council has made over the years due to its catastrophic financial ineptitude and mis-management.
The council need to go bankrupt. Quickly. Then let some one run it who know what their doing. Council should not be allowed to borrow money for investment as it’s us, the council tax payers who foot the mistakes. Now we are in recession I wonder how much of a pay cut our council staff will take? Running a business or a council isn’t just about what comes in or goes out on what, it’s also about management of funds and streamlining service’s. Something our council just can’t do.
Carol Tozer where on earth are you going with this?? The people needing the care at night are vulnerable not wanting independence and bed turners the human response is that these elderly reserve. Plenty of other ways to save money