Anger grows over City of Edinburgh care plans

PRESSURE is mounting on the city council over its controversial decision to change the care packages of 800 vulnerable people.Two large-scale protests have been planned because of the re-tendering plans, while national organisations have joined in the criticism of local authority chiefs.

The flak came as health and social care leader Councillor Paul Edie admitted the delaying of a decision had already cost £100,000.

The Edinburgh-based Learning Disability Alliance Scotland said anger among the disabled community – and the people who cared for them – was growing, not least because the council has also cancelled applications for Direct Payments, a scheme which sees money paid to an individual’s account for them to organise their own care arrangements.

There was already anger at the prospect of hundreds of people having their carer switched, in some cases after decades of getting used to the same person.

Ian Hood, the organisation’s co-ordinator, said the first of the protests would be tomorrow at a lecture in the City Chambers about choices in care.

“Over 180 service users and their families met this week to talk about what they could do about the council’s plans,” he said.

“They were furious when they heard that the council was promoting a lecture on choice at the same time as denying them a real choice today. We expect hundreds of people to attend.”

When the council meets on 19 November, a large number of local people with learning disabilities and their families are also expected to turn out in a last-gasp bid to persuade them not to rubber-stamp the new agreements.

Community Care Providers Scotland, an association for voluntary groups providing care, said in a letter to council bosses: “It is a cause of particular concern that services to people with mental health problems currently provided by specialist organisations may be transferred to organisations with no track record in this field.

“It is very difficult to see how these contract awards will result in quality improvement.”

It is understood that only around 30 people out of the 800 most disabled people in Edinburgh will continue to have the same carer, with around 200 having switched to Direct Payments to keep their current support.

Labour’s health and social care spokeswoman, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “All councillors are being contacted by service users and their carers and you cannot help but be moved by their stories. Some are frightened for their future.”

Cllr Edie said the delays to introducing the new system had cost the council £100,000 because there would be a delay of at least three weeks before the changeover could take place.

He said: “The quality will be substantially better and there will be greater cost harmony – before, some of the prices were all over the shop. It is not a cut, it is an efficiency saving.”

UPSETTING TIMES

DESPITE having serious learning difficulties, 22-year-old David Clemenson is able to live in his own space thanks to a city organisation.

He currently has access to 24/7 support and a degree of independence thanks to the supported accommodation provided by Garvald.

However, uncertainty shrouds this arrangement after Garvald lost the contract for his care.

“It’s really upsetting for everyone in this situation,” says his mother Lesley. “There’s people who have grown-up children in their 40s and 50s and they were happy knowing that they were in a safe, familiar environment.

“But they don’t have that guarantee any more.

“David is very, very happy and settled at Garvald. They have worked tirelessly to support him and help him settle in. I cannot imagine how this would be possible to start all over again.”