Shortages in carers have left East Lothian’s most vulnerable residents missing out on thousands of hours of care each week, report reveals.
A new report on the state of elderly care provision across the county has revealed gaps of hundreds of hours in home care in each ward. The biggest shortage was in the east, with nearly 300 hours of care unmet every week in North Berwick and Dunbar.
The report to East Lothian Integration Joint Board called for community consultations to be launched to look at each ward area and the biggest issues they face, as part of plans to develop care services locally.
Board members agreed to support the consultation across the wards to identify local challenges in community provision.
They were told that work on re-provisioning services had identified two main issues in East Lothian; firstly that intermediate care provision (including care at home) is not sufficient, and secondly, an inequity in access to care that needed to be addressed.
It found that there was an over provision of care home beds in the county, despite there being none in Preston, Seton, Gosford.
The report broke down each ward by the number of people aged over 75, care home beds, care at home hours provided and its shortfall.
The report said: “The board subgroup previously considered the potential solutions to address these issues. However, these cannot be progressed without consultation and engagement with the community who should be given their own opportunity to contribute to the solutions.”
The consultation will be carried out over 12 weeks.
The breakdown of elderly provision in East Lothian revealed:
Musselburgh
Population over 75 yrs – 1,700;
Care home beds – 112;
Care at home hours – 2,304hrs (additional unmet 211hrs)
Preston, Seton, Gosford
Population over 75 yrs – 1,671;
Care home beds – 0;
Care at home hours – 1,170 hrs (unmet 202hrs)
Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry
Population over 75 yrs – 1,597;
Care home beds – 225;
Care at home hours – 1,078 (unmet 191hrs)
North Berwick Coastal
Population over 75 yrs – 2,058;
Care home beds – 275;
Care at home hours – 1,207 (unmet 290hrs)
Dunbar and East Linton
Population over 75 – 1,405;
Care home beds – 59;
Care at home hours – 891hrs (unmet 290hrs)
Haddington and Lammermuir
Population over 75 yrs – 1,974;
Care home beds – 110;
Care at home hours – 1,306 (unmet 275hrs)
by Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
