More people choosing to do other things leads to review of Council day services
More people with care needs are choosing to use money allocated to them by the Council, through personal budgets, to pursue hobbies and interests or access local activities, groups and clubs than attend Council-run day centres.
The numbers of people accessing day centres in Devon have fallen by nearly 66% since 2005. Some of the Council’s day centres now have just a small number of attendees, and service users and carers are telling the Council that it needs to modernise.
Members of Devon County Council's Cabinet will propose at its meeting next week (Wednesday 9 October) how it would like to see its day opportunities provided in future and the impact that might have on their day centres.
There needs to be an even more flexible range of day opportunities to choose from that are based in local communities, say service users and carers, and that help and information is needed for people to access 'universal' services available to everyone.
In some rural parts of Devon, where the same opportunities are not currently available, the Council is told that more work is required to develop them.
And people with complex needs and their carers say that for the minority who need day centres, they should be modernised and offer more choice and have better integration within local communities, as the Council is planning in Totnes and is providing in Newton Abbot and Honiton.
The strategy describes a range of different levels of support for people wanting the Council’s help. They include:
• Basic advice and signposting to existing services available to everyone in the community, for people with needs that are below the Council's eligibility criteria.
• For people wanting support because of social isolation, or loss of independence, the Council will provide time-limited help geared towards redirecting or helping them access services that are available to everyone, for as long as possible to delay or minimise use of the Council's funded day services.
• For people who are eligible for, and need on-going support, the Council will encourage use of personal budgets or direct payments as a way of getting that support, working with providers of universal services, voluntary and community groups and care providers to promote a greater range of affordable community based opportunities.
• And for people with very intensive care needs who may need access to a buildings-based service, the Council wants to make sure that their services, and those of others in the independent and voluntary sector, are meeting people's changing needs and demands from appropriate facilities.
Because the Council wants opportunities to exist for people to do things during the day wherever they live, they will work with the voluntary and private sector in communities where there may not be much choice at the moment to encourage development of such opportunities, or identify whether they will need to ensure that accessible transport is available to opportunities nearby.
Due to the significant drop in use, the Council will review its day centres over coming months, as well as what's around them. They will be asking:
Are there alternative day centres or other opportunities for people to do things during the day, in the same locality?
Which of its day centres are consistently and significantly under-utilised?
Are their day centre buildings suitable for the changing needs and demands of people who need them?
Are there opportunities that the Council can share facilities with other services, bringing together services that compliment each other.
If the review results in significant service change or possibly closure of any day centres, the Council will consult with people using those services and their carers and staff.
Councillor Stuart Barker, the Council's Cabinet Member responsible for adult social care said:
"Our success at helping people to find different things to do means that we need to look at all day centre provision as well as other local opportunities to understand what our options are.
"We want to make sure that our funding is in line with the choices that people are making. We need our services to reflect and support people's wishes and needs.
"Clearly we must extend our support, not only to people who meet our eligibility criteria, but also to those with moderate needs who need a temporary helping hand to guide them in the right direction.
"And we need a service that develops a range of flexible day opportunities in local communities, which is what people want, as well as specialist facilities for people with very intensive care needs.
"We know attendance at many of our day centres is going to continue falling as people choose to do other things.
"We'll wait to see what our review finds. It may mean that we need to modernise and invest in some of our day centres so that they can better support people with complex needs.
"Some day centres may close in areas where we know there are alternatives that people are preferring to use, while some support may relocate to other buildings alongside other services.
"Whatever the outcome of the review, we'll be talking to day service users and carers about options.
"I will ensure that everyone who is eligible for our support will continue to receive support. No one with eligible needs will be left without a service."
