Residential Consultation – feedback and open meeting

Consultation meetings on the options for the future of residential care in Briistol are well underway. The current focus is on talking with staff, residents and families in each home. In the past week meetings have been held at Redfield, Brentry, Maesknoll, Bowmead, Combe and Rockwell.

As well at looking at the three proposed options for the future delivery of residential care, questions have been asked about timescales for moving to new homes if a home closes.

Concerns have also been raised about the accountability of providers. While there is a level of trust in council-run services, families want to see good levels of monitoring in place for alternative providers to ensure that residents receive good quality care.

An open meeting about the residential consultation is taking place at on 6th June at 6 pm at The Council House.

Equalities meetings about the consultations

A meeting about the equality issues for both the residential and day opportunities consultations is being held at The Council House on the 24th May.

Day Opportunities Consultation – feedback and open meeting

Consultation meetings on the options for the future of Day Opportunities in Bristol are well underway. In the past week we have been talking with service users, carers and staff at Lanercost, Bristol 600, River Street, St George, The Park, Greville, Dovercourt, Lockleaze and Westleigh.

As well as discussing the three proposed options, questions have been raised about what alternative services will be available, how personal budgets work and how Bristol City Council will continue to meet eligible needs.

Reassurance has been given that no change to people’s current services as a result of this consultation will be made until:

• a decision has been made by Cabinet to progress with any of the options
• people have had a review and alternative services have been identified that will meet their eligible needs.

This will take some time and all staff involved will be working to make sure that any change is managed carefully and sensitively to meet the needs of service users and carers.

An open meeting about the Day Opportunities Consultation is taking place on 7th June at 6 pm at The Council House.

Find out more and have your say

In addition to coming along to these meetings, you can find out more and complete response forms at the following web pages:

• Visit the Residential Services consultation
• Visit the Day Opportunities consultation

On 29th March 2012, Cabinet agreed to proceed with the next stage of consultation on the future of Residential Care Homes and Day Opportunities in Bristol.

Three options have been identified for Residential Care Homes and three options for Day Opportunities. Consultation will now take place on these options for the next 12 weeks ending on 25th June 2012. A  report will then go back to Cabinet in July  for a decision.

FIND OUT MORE AND Have your say

• Visit the Residential Services consultation
• Visit the Day Opportunities consultation

Bristol City Council’s Cabinet will decide whether to approve options for further consultation on the future of residential and day care services for adults in Bristol when it meets on Thursday 29 March.  You can watch the meeting live on the internet at www.bristol.gov.uk/webcast

The delivery of health and social care services to vulnerable people in Bristol, including quality residential services for older people, is a key council priority.  

Older people are increasingly choosing services that are flexible such as extra care housing and national policy changes are putting adults more in control of purchasing the services they need to support them.

If these more detailed options are approved, a further round of consultation will run from 2nd April to 25th June. This will inform final recommendations to be considered by Cabinet in July.

In November last year, Cabinet endorsed a proposal for the modernisation of health and social care services, with a formal period of consultation running from December to February. More than 60 meetings and events have been held in venues across Bristol, for service users, residents, families, carers, staff and providers.

Responding to the needs of individuals is at the heart of proposals for the transformation of services.

Cllr Jon Rogers - Cabinet Member for Health and Care

Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health, Councillor Dr Jon Rogers, explains: “People tell us they want greater choice about their care, so we need to ensure services are more personal and flexible. They are looking for greater independence and we think services in local communities are key. These can help users of day care services maintain and develop their confidence and independence. For older people, it ensures they get support at an earlier stage and reduces the need for more traditional residential and nursing homes.”Local population change also needs to be taken into account in planning for the future, with a big rise in the number of older people in the city expected. In December 2011, the council supported 6,737 older people. Over the next ten years, this is projected to rise to 7,735 older people, an increase of 17%. In particular, there is a big rise in the number of people with dementia.

Alison Comley - Strategic Director for Health and Social Care

Strategic Director for Health and Social Care, Alison Comley, adds: “There are a number of challenges we must respond to, to ensure services are fit for purpose to meet changing needs and expectations, and sustainable in the longer term. We are working on proposals that make the most efficient use of resources, so we can support the growing number of people in Bristol with care needs.”

The report to cabinet outlines three options for the future of residential care and three options for the future of day services.

  
You can read the cabinet reports here (downloads a pdf): 
Delivering an effective social care system – Day Opportunities
Delivering an effective social care system – Residential Care for Older People

 Consultation on these options will begin on 2nd April and include one-to-one meetings with care home residents, public meetings, surveys, a blog, and a review of national and local strategy.

Prior to the Cabinet meeting there will be a Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission meeting on Monday 26 March.  See the agenda for this meeting on the council’s website.
Find out more about the scrutiny function in Bristol www.bristol.gov.uk/scrutiny.

A phone line has been set up for anyone wanting to raise concerns or ask questions on 0117 352 1456.

The consultations on Residential Care and Day Opportunities ended at midnight on 29th February 2012. We will no longer be able to respond to questions and comments posted after this date.

Any questions posted before this date which have not yet been responded to will be answered as soon as possible.

To date we have had 214 questionnaires returned for Residential Consultation and 467 for Day Opportunities. We have held over 60 meetings and events across the city for residents, service users, families and carers, staff and providers. All comments made at the meetings have been recorded and are being analysed along with the questionnaires.

Options and any recommendations to Cabinet will be developed from a combination of the consultations, a study of what other local authorities have done or are doing and, a range of analyses such as level and type of predicted need, condition of buildings, geographic spread of services and financial viability.

The Cabinet reports on Day Opportunities and Residential Care being submitted to Cabinet on 29th March are public documents. It will be possible to view them on the Bristol City Council Website from the middle of March. The Cabinet meeting is a public meeting which anyone can attend and the minutes of the meeting will also be available on the website.

We will keep you updated about what will happen next using this page.