Aberdeenshire Families Fear Loved Ones Will Lose Independence Amid Proposed Day Care Cuts

Families fear loved ones will lose their independence and be left battling anxiety alone if Aberdeenshire health chiefs go forward with proposed day care cuts.
Members of the integration joint board, which oversees the Aberdeenshire health and social care partnership, met earlier to discuss proposed cuts to crucial services.
Mum Coralie Aitken explained that she would be one of the unpaid carers affected by potential changes to assessments around day centre care.
She also revealed that her daughter Sophie would be heavily impacted by the move, adding: “There is already a crisis across care and we are at breaking point.”
The worried mum explained that Sophie has hypermobility and severe learning difficulties meaning she needs help with everyday tasks.
But, she has been thriving thanks to the help and support she gets from staff at Ellon Resource Centre.
“The impact on Sophie’s wellbeing if she doesn’t have her day service anymore will take away her independence,” Coralie stated.
“Our loved ones will probably go into some form of crisis because they don’t have that understanding of why these things are being taken away from them.”
The Balmedie mum also feared removing day care support would lead to users feeling anxious and depressed.
“I can’t stress enough how much pressure this is going to put on everyone if these services are only allowed to be accessed by the most severely disabled,” she said.
The mum claimed there had been “no proper consultation” with families, with some already being told they won’t have a service in the future.
She pleaded with board members to take her concerns on board, and tearfully added: “This is a life or death situation for a lot of us.”
Coralie praised the day centre and its staff for helping her daughter, and feared losing access to it would do more harm than good.
“Sophie would regress so far back, and I know other people would too, if we didn’t have the specialist input from these amazing people who help care for our loved ones,” she stated.
“The day centre itself is so important and is integral to everyone’s lives.
“If we didn’t have the day centre, Sophie’s whole life would disappear – her social life, everything would go.”
To make matters worse, the mother revealed she was told her daughter’s place was at risk via a phone call.
“The impact of this should have been done a long time before phoning families and telling them they didn’t have a space anymore,” the unimpressed mum said.
Members of the IJB met last month to set its indicative budget for the year ahead.
They were told that if no changes were made, the partnership would be left with a £40 million black hole.
So, officers put forward a host of proposed reductions, reviews and charge increases that would help save just under £8m.
This could include changes to the ARCH responder service, cuts to transport services and reviews of services from care homes to day care facilities.
Older adult activity hubs at Doocot View in Banff, Abbey Court in Mintlaw, and Jarvis Court in Fraserburgh will also be reviewed.
Father Saddiq Ahmed attended the meeting at Woodhill House in Aberdeen.
He shared his own experience and explained what impact the threatened day centre changes would have on his son, Alexander, who attends services in Crimond.
The retired businessman revealed he felt the proposals had been “pushed forward with no regard to due process”.
And, he believed the changes could create “real dilemmas” for adults with learning disabilities as well as their parents, carers and support staff.
“This effectively means that the vast majority of current users will no longer be able to attend,” he said.
“It then beggars the question, if many service users are unable to attend, how can they feasibly stay open?
“And if that wasn’t enough, those lucky enough to get a place at the day centre find that there is no transport provided.”
The frustrated dad wanted board members to consider the “very real impact” the cuts would have on the “mental, physical welfare and wellbeing of service users, suddenly deprived of their whole world”.
He also warned of the “very real possibility” that many adults with learning disabilities being deprived of services could be “constrained to an early death”.
“That’s what happens when people regress, that’s what happens when people become insular – they die…and that’s what we are running the risk of here.”
Councillor David Keating thanked the two parents for their “incredibly powerful and personal testimonies”, and suggested board members found their words “sobering”.
However, he stressed that the changes were needed as there was no cash to keep the services running as they are.
Mr Keating explained: “We can’t raise revenue, we have no borrowing ability and we have no reserves.
“A solution we could look at is simply salami-slice everything, decrease what we do for everybody across the piece and that could be an answer.
“But, I don’t think that would be a better answer, we should be trying to do something transformational.”
Meanwhile, board members also discussed plans to keep the adult autism and ADHD assessment pathway going on a reduced service for the next six months.
It was one service due to be axed at last month’s budget meeting, however board members asked if it could be given a temporary extension.
But, health bosses would need to find £80,000 to do this.
Papers ahead of the meeting suggested the partnership wouldn’t be able to provide this service without a damaging domino effect on other services.
Councillor Ross Cassie believed the paper didn’t provide enough detail for members to decide the fate of the service.
He said: “What has been put in front of us is not giving us a steer in any direction whatsoever.
“We know that there are problems with diagnosis out there and we know that needs to be addressed.
“We shouldn’t be pitting one service against another, everybody deserves to have a service.”
Following debate, the board agreed to defer the matter to a future meeting as they believed they didn’t have enough information to make a proper decision.
The Aberdeenshire integration joint board will meet again at the end of May. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

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