Community health project faces collapse amid cash fear

NHS managers stand accused of being entrenched and inflexible, as the future of Glasgow’s pioneering model of merging social work and frontline health care hangs in the balance.

In a move that could determine whether the community health care partnership (CHCP) system continues as planned, Glasgow City Council voted ­yesterday not to commit to an upfront £400 million to have a new network of agencies fully operational.

Instead, it said it would pay its contribution – ­which sits alongside £490m from the NHS ­Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board – in stages.

The health board will meet later this month to consider the council’s decision, with sources telling The Herald they fully expect it to be rejected.

The council’s decision, which had cross-party support, follows claims that partnership budgets were already in the red.

One senior council source said: “Diplomatically speaking, there’s a clash of cultures between us and them in terms of how you financially monitor.

“We don’t believe we’re ­operating with a bottomless pit of money.”

The partnerships were set up in 2006 to bring together the social care functions of the council and health service. The idea was that the partnerships would assume responsibility for health visitors, social workers, district nurses, dieticians and physiotherapists, as well as ­dealing with elderly care, mental health and addiction.

Five partnerships exist across Glasgow, with hundreds of ­millions of pounds already pumped into them. However, all are running at a deficit of between £500,000 and £3m.

The CHCPs were cited in the recent report by Sir John ­Arbuthnott on how the public purse could save hundreds of millions of pounds, and were held up as an example of ­agencies working more closely together. But after months of wrangling and personality ­clashes, sources told The Herald this week the network was in grave danger of collapse.

At yesterday’s council meeting, the lead politician liaising with the health board, Cllr Archie Graham, said: “Discussions have been difficult.

“They, the health board, have an entrenched and inflexible view of how to take this forward but on every occasion we have sought to protect ourselves from financial risk.

“How they deal with it is a matter for the health board but it would be a dereliction of duty if we threw the baby out with the bath water here.”

Previous inspection reports were also cited as a reason for not committing the full £400m in one payment.

When asked by SNP councillors why the authority had previously agreed with the health board about devolving the entire budget by April 2010 and had now performed something of a U-turn, chief executive George Black said: “What has changed since last year is a more acute awareness of the financial challenges in going forward.”

A spokesman for NHS ­Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “Our board will now ­consider how this decision by the council influences the next steps for the CHCPs.

The first opportunity will be on May 15.”

Last night leading health ­professionals said disintegration of the network may have its benefits.

Dr Alan McDevitt, ­secretary of the Glasgow Local Medical Committee, said a disproportionate amount of time and energy had already been spent trying to merge two very different organisations.

He said: “The theoretic bene-fits are not being achieved so there will be no real loss.

“Each organisation can now get back to its core business and work together without the need for merger.”