We are delighted to welcome our new permanent CEO, Sarah Van Putten, to the LifeCare family.
Sarah joins us as an experienced third sector Chief Executive, with a career in health and social care spanning 3 decades. For the last 6 years, Sarah has been supporting Befriending Networks across the UK, and tackling loneliness and isolation by influencing public policy.
On her appointment, Sarah said: “I am delighted to have joined the LifeCare team as permanent CEO.
“I bring a long track record of working within and managing social care organisations. I knew of LifeCare as my great Aunt was a client and I have always been impressed by the work they do.
“Since taking up post, the commitment and passion of the team has already become evident – with staff continuously going above and beyond for the people they support. I look forward to working closely with staff, our board of trustees and most importantly the clients to identify our priorities for the next 3 years.
“I hope to bring my wider experience of social isolation policy work to help Lifecare amplify the voices of those who use our services, so that we can continue to offer those “extra years of Zest” to the people in our communities that need it most.”
Since moving to Edinburgh to study nursing 10 years ago, Courtney Bennett has long understood the need for attentive, respectful in-home care to meet the growing demand for exceptional services in her community.
After a decade in the care industry, Courtney has recently launched Visiting Angels – a care provider that cares for people in the comfort of their own homes – with the intention of not only providing high-quality in-home care for Edinburgh residents, but also to reward carers for the amazing work they do for others day in, day out.
Before launching Visiting Angels, Courtney graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a nursing degree, and she felt so at home in the city that she decided to stay and start a life here.
In her years after university, Courtney worked across the care sector in various roles, predominantly with the elderly in nursing homes and in adult social care from the nursing perspective.
After battling through her own health issues, Courtney had to take a step back from clinical nursing, but never lost the passion she had for caring for others. It was this which prompted Courtney to launch Visiting Angels; she was able to provide that high level of care to those who need it most while being able to look after her own health.
“Since finding nursing, I have loved caring for others, particularly for the elderly,” says Courtney, of her motivation for launching the company. “I love the elderly; I feel so comfortable in their company – more than most my own age actually!
“I loved my job as a nurse, but it’s no secret that it comes with its own challenges. Being a caregiver is such a difficult job, one which is not nearly championed enough. Carers deserve to be treated, valued and rewarded properly for the amazing work that they do.
“I found when I was working in care homes that no matter how fantastic the home, the team and the facilities were, there was always something which felt institutionalising and isolating about them.
“I’m a firm believer that people rest better in their own home, and that when carers are given more time for visits and properly compensated for their work, that in-home care becomes something incredibly special.
“When I decided to launch Visiting Angels here in Edinburgh, it was so important for me to think about not just our clients, but our carers as well, which is why we have policies covering minimum one-hour visits, paid-for travel time between visits for staff, and proper rewards for our caregivers’ incredible work.”
Visiting Angels’ ‘carer-centric’ approach sets it apart from other companies in the in-home care sector. Carers working for Visiting Angels feel valued and respected for their commitment to the industry.
Through both financial rewards and opportunities for career development, Courtney and the Visiting Angels team are determined to address issues surrounding the industry, which often leaves carers feeling little –to no appreciation.
Courtney is aiming to have around 20 carers on board by the end of the year. With staff turnover in the care sector at a record high, Courtney is determined to encourage caregivers to stay in the industry, by providing them with a supportive, respectful, rewarding work environment.
More than anything, Courtney wants to change the face of social care for the better, and to make it accessible to every person who needs it.
“It’s so important to get our voices heard and to make a real difference in the community. So much of our local area is underserved and often overlooked when it comes to care, so I’m really excited to be able to bring this level of high-quality, consistent care to the people of East Edinburgh.”
Social Care Minister Maree Todd will join the first of a series of events where people can co-design the new National Care Service.
Today’s event at Stirling’s Albert Halls will allow carers, people who access and deliver care, including the workforce, and anyone with an interest to contribute to how a new National Care Service could work.
Since the regional forums were announced last month, more than 600 have signed up to take part in-person and online, with additional capacity already being made for the Glasgow event next week.
Ms Todd said: “We want everyone to have access to consistently high-quality social care support across Scotland, whenever they might need it.
“There are unique demands across the country, which is why we’re going to different areas over the next 18 months, ensuring communities across Scotland can help design a National Care Service tailored to local needs.
“Having listened to people who access and deliver care support – both paid and unpaid – as well as care providers, unions and the third sector during the parliamentary process, these meetings will allow us to work with people who access care support, have a loved one that receives care, or works in the sector to think about how to meet the needs we have heard about. This will help us ensure the legislation reflects what people need and know as it progresses through Parliament.”
“I am pleased that there has been such interest in signing up, Spaces are still available, with online events providing another option for those who want to have their voices heard if they can’t make it in person.
A NEW digital hub in West Lothian showcasing housing technology of the future won Bield stakeholder approval after its official launch last week.
Following a tenant sneak-peek in March, Bield Housing and Care has officially opened the Bield Tech Hub in Linlithgow, having secured £75k of funding through the TAPPI project.
The launch allowed stakeholders, including local health and social care partnerships, staff and other housing associations, to trial and give feedback on digital care advancements of the future.
The Bield Tech Hub consists of four spaces including two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, one kitchen space and one living space. There is also a consultation room and a dining space. Each room has been fitted out with different technologies for people to test.
Stakeholders were welcomed to the space by Dr Lynne Douglas, Bield CEO, who said: “We are delighted to have officially opened the Bield Tech Hub and we’re sure it will bring life-changing technology to West Lothian and further afield. It was fantastic to give our stakeholders and project partners the opportunity to see first-hand what their support has facilitated.
“It’s very important that people get the chance to familiarise themselves with this incredible tech made available through the TAPPI project and get a true insight into housing of the future.”
The Technology for our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation (TAPPI) project aims to improve the way technology is used in housing and care for older people. Led by the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (Housing LIN), the TEC Services Association (TSA) and funded by The Dunhill Medical Trust, TAPPI seeks to address the opportunity that technology has to enhance the lives of our ageing population and the barriers that prevent its adoption.
The funding will give Bield the unique opportunity to work with tenants, staff and partners to gain insight into a range of devices, apps and systems across a variety of housing settings. With co-production at its heart, Bield staff and tenants will have shared responsibility to produce digital services to support independent living – a first for the Scottish housing charity.
The Bield Tech Hub features three main technologies. The first, Anthropos, uses predictive and analytical technologies to map individuals’ daily routines and sends insights to family or staff. If abnormal action is detected, Anthropos intervenes to prevent a crisis moment from occurring. This supports independent living for as long as possible by proactively averting potential injury or danger.
Aquarate drinking cups, which track individuals’ fluid intake by measuring liquid volume automatically, are also available. This monitoring means that optimal fluid levels are maintained, and can be personalised to reflect individuals’ needs and care.
The third technology is Vayyar, a non-wearable, non-invasive, 4-dimensional tracking technology which supports fall detection. It also determines room presence and tracks mobility levels and bathroom visits, all of which facilitate autonomous living.
Lynne added: “Our team have worked hard to ensure that Bield tenants, customers and their families are beneficiaries of extremely relevant tech that could make a real difference to their day-to-day lives – we are certain that the three technologies achieve that.
“Preventative care technologies across the board underpin our major tech revolution at Bield and we’re confident that there will be fewer falls and emergencies, generally helping people to live independently for longer and be more confident in their homes.”
Bield’s use of innovative technology has already received major recognition – it’s ‘Inspire Phase 2’ project which utilised proactive telecare was the winner of the Transformation Award at the 2023 ITEC Awards in Birmingham.
The ITEC Awards celebrate innovation within the sector and the positive impact Technology Enabled Care has on the lives of millions of people in the UK. The Transformation Award honours services that have planned and implemented major transformation with a proactive and preventative approach.
Bield is a housing and care charity committed to providing innovative, flexible and high-quality housing solutions and support for older people. Bield Housing and Care has around 180 developments which facilitate independent living across Scotland.
To find out more about Bield and its developments, visit https://www.bield.co.uk/ or follow on Facebook @bieldhousingandcare and Twitter @BieldScotland
People in health and social care settings will no longer be advised to wear facemasks from Tuesday next week (16 May).
The return to pre-pandemic guidance means that mask use will be based on clinical need based on infection prevention and control advice, meaning staff, patients, service users and visitors will not be routinely asked to wear facemasks in health and social care settings.
It follows a review of the guidance introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect staff, patients, service users and visitors, and recognises that Scotland has entered a calmer phase of the pandemic.
Chief Nursing Officer Alex McMahon said: “Due to the success of vaccines in protecting people, and the availability of treatments, now is the right time to revise the advice on wearing masks in health and social care settings and return to pre-pandemic guidance.
“We recognise that some staff may have concerns around the withdrawal of this guidance and would expect organisations to undertake individual occupational health assessments and risk assessments as appropriate.
“We continue to be vigilant in our response to Covid-19 and encourage everyone to make sure they are up to date with the boosters available to them. We are grateful for the tireless work of health and social care teams during these challenging times and to everyone who has helped them by adhering to the guidance.”
Scotland’s Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) face considerable financial challenges and immense pressures on their workforce, says public spending watchdog Audit Scotland.
IJBs have reached the point where significant transformation will be needed to ensure the long-term capacity, financial sustainability and quality of services individuals receive.
IJBs plan and commission many community-based health and care services. Demand for these services is increasing, in part due to demographic change and support for people with increasingly complex care needs.
The number of care hours for those aged over 65 reached nearly 25 million in 2021/22. The proportion of care services reporting vacancies increased by 11 per cent to 47 per cent, with a 30 per cent turnover of staff each year.
Most IJBs underspent on providing services in 2021/22. This was largely because of difficulties in recruiting staff, which led to unplanned vacancies, and pandemic-related reductions in service provision. The reductions in service provision were likely to have contributed to an increase in unmet health and social care needs.
In 2021/22 IJBs returned significant surpluses, with reserves doubling to over £1.3 billion. This was mainly due to additional funding received late in the year for specific policy commitments, including Covid-19. The Scottish Government are currently exploring options to recover around two-thirds of the unspent Covid-19 money held in reserves.
Across Scotland, IJBs have a combined projected funding gap of £124 million for 2022/23.
To be financially sustainable in the longer-term, IJBs must reduce their reliance on reserves. All IJBs must put in place detailed plans that clearly show how they will achieve the needed ongoing savings on a recurring basis and support urgently needed service transformation.
William Moyes, Chair of the Accounts Commission said: “Change is needed now – it cannot wait for a National Care Service. Action is needed to tackle funding pressures, which are under increasing stress from rising demand and cost pressures.
“The workforce challenges are considerable, with mounting unmet need.
“We need to see services focus on prevention, with appropriate funding in place to transform the way services are delivered and to improve lives. “
Local government organisation COSLA agrees.
COSLA Health & Social Care Spokesperson, Councillor Paul Kelly, said: “Today’s report from Audit Scotland is concerning and highlights the enormous pressure our health and social care infrastructure is under.
“People across Scotland rely on vital health & social care services every day, and it is critical that there is meaningful investment in the system which ensures their long-term capacity.
“We must ensure focus remains on front-line service improvement and sustainability, rather than the bureaucratic structural change presented through the National Care Service Bill.”
Common Weal and STUC call for pause to National Care Service legislation
Scottish think tank Common Weal, along with the Scottish Trade Union Congress, has launched a joint letter to the First Minister calling for the National Care Service Bill to be paused (writes NICK KEMPE).
Since Common Weal supported calls from the Trade Unions to pause the bill at the beginning of December many other organisations have done the same. Until now, however, smaller organisations have had a limited opportunity to make their views known and there has been very little joint action. The idea behind the letter, which you can read here, is to change that and to show the Scottish Government the degree of concern across Scotland.
The NCS Bill has now been considered by various Committees of the Scottish Parliament and MSPs should now be aware that there is very little enthusiasm or support for it in its current form. The hearings of the Finance and Public Administration Committee received a large amount of media coverage, not least because SNP MSP Michelle Thomson broke ranks and made some scathing comments.
The Committee’s report on the Financial Memorandum accompanying the bill, published at the beginning of December, was highly critical about the absence of costings. It highlighted the absence of costs for the creation of the new service, including VAT liability, transfer of assets and staff and the creation of a health and social care record, as well as the proposal to introduce major policies “via secondary legislation or business cases which cannot be subject to the same in-depth and formal financial scrutiny as Financial Memorandums to bills”.
It called on the Scottish Government to provide the necessary financial details at least two weeks prior to the Stage 1 consideration of the bill in March – giving very little time for any outside organisation to comment/brief MSPs
The majority report published last Friday here from the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee – don’t be put off by the name – added to the concerns about the lack of information and that the Scottish Government is “setting a dangerous precedent, undermining the role of the parliament.” Its reason for concluding this (the two SNP MSPs on the Committee dissented) was:
“The Committee is concerned there is insufficient detail on the face of the Bill and within the Bill documents to allow for meaningful parliamentary scrutiny. Given the far-reaching nature of the proposed reforms the Committee is mindful there is a real risk of letting down those the Bill is intended to help by allowing Scottish Government ministers to use delegated powers instead of primary legislation to introduce core and as yet unknown provisions. The Committee believes the current approach significantly reduces the threshold for parliamentary approval and prevents MSPs from bringing forward detailed amendments”.
Far from increasing democratic control over care services, as we advocated in Caring for All, the NCS Bill is now threatening to undermine democracy, whether at the local level by removing control from local authorities, or at the national level by handing unprecedented powers to Scottish Ministers.
The Scottish Government needs to have a fundamental re-think about what it is proposing and how its engaging with civic society while at the same time secretly working with KPMG to design the Target Operating Model for the NCS. If you are part of an organisation which has a stake in the future of social work and social care in Scotland, please ask them to support the letter. As an individual, please also consider contacting your MSPs asking them to support the call for a pause.
Nick Kempe – Common Weal Care Reform Group
COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, @cllrpaulkelly, commented following the release of the letter from @ScottishTUC and signed by a number of organisations which has called for Scottish Government to pause the National Care Service Bill:
The Scottish Government’s resilience committee (SGoRR) met again yesterday to discuss the challenges facing health and social care this winter.
Chaired by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the meeting focussed on hospital occupancy, and the measures being taken to reduce levels of delayed discharge and find care placements and packages for those clinically fit to leave hospital.
The most recent A&E statistics have shown a continued improvement in performance, with 70.1% of people being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours – the best performance since May.
Additional funding has also been made available Health and Social Care Partnerships who have the responsibility of providing care packages for those in their locality, to provide 300 interim care home beds for people who no longer need to be in hospital. So far, 162 people have entered interim care facilities paid for using this additional funding.
The SGoRR meeting was also attended by the Health Secretary, other cabinet ministers, the Chief Medical Officer and senior representatives from NHS boards, COSLA, Integration Joint Boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The First Minister said: “The continued improvement in A&E performance is something to be welcomed, but there is still much work being done on safely freeing up hospital capacity and easing pressures elsewhere in the system. That is why we are continuing to pursue a range of measures to enable people to leave hospital as soon as possible when it is clinically safe for them to do so.
“We remain indebted to the health and social care staff in all parts of Scotland who have continued to do an outstanding job, despite the extra challenges that winter has presented.”
Campaign aims to help fill vacant posts across Edinburgh
A marketing campaign to support the recruitment of more adult social care workers in Edinburgh has launched this week, to help address the high level of vacancies in the sector.
The campaign – titled ‘there is more to care than caring’ – will raise awareness of the career opportunities available in adult social care and encourage people to apply. Activity includes radio, outdoor and digital advertising, highlighting the important work done by adult social care workers.
It is part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to attract more people to work in adult social care, retain existing staff and raise its status as a profession. This builds on a pay uplift for all adult social care staff which guarantees them a minimum of at least £10.90 an hour from this April.
Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart visited Leuchie House in North Berwick yesterday to see the work it does to support people affected by stroke, multiple sclerosis and neurological conditions.
Mr Stewart said: “Working in adult social care can be challenging but offers the opportunity to have a hugely positive impact on people’s lives on a daily basis.
“We are increasing pay, improving terms and conditions in the sector, and developing clear career pathways for the workforce, ahead of the introduction of the National Care Service. This will lead to more rewarding roles for the existing adult social care workforce, and for new entrants to the profession.
“This campaign highlights that while relevant experience can help, it is core interpersonal skills such as communication, compassion, empathy and respect that are most highly valued.
“If these are skills you possess then adult social care could be the career for you.”
Councillor Paul Kelly, COSLA Health and Social Care spokesperson, said: “COSLA Leaders are clear that addressing the pressures in our health and social care system needs a whole system approach which is not just about delayed discharge.
“All partners need to acknowledge that longstanding recruitment and retention issues place significant constraints on Health and Social Care Partnerships ability to deal with challenges and we must urgently invest in fair work to ensure that progress can be made in building and developing the social care workforce.”
