Vacant posts will be abolished and bank nursing cash slashed to save Aberdeen’s health bosses around £14 million over the next year.
The board overseeing the Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, which is jointly funded by the council and NHS Grampian, voted through a string of changes today.
The cuts imposed could have been much worse if not for a multi-million-pound rescue deal secured in recent weeks.
Aberdeen City Council agreed to plough an extra £9.5m towards the body weeks ago – saying a massive council tax hike was needed to protect the area’s most vulnerable.
NHS Grampian today confirmed its board has set aside £6m to cover costs.
And an extra boost of £10.9m will come from the partners to protect “essential” frontline services, residential care beds and counselling services.
But despite all this, some major savings still needed to be made…
How did board decide on £14m of savings needed to balance the books?
Ahead of the crucial meeting, it was revealed that the partnership needed to make £14.35m savings to make ends meet.
It faces pressures including pay inflation and additional employers national insurance contributions, with a whopping £820,000 of this unfunded.
Members heard of other spiralling cost challenges.
Prescribing pressures continue to grow, with a 5% overall increase – which could work out being £2.5m over the next 12 months.
Day care services will be preserved “as far as possible” and support packages could continue to be provided for “everyone in need of high and urgent care at home”.
Costs will managed through “efficiency savings” across different areas, while some charges will be increased to raise around £381,000.
Fees will be raised across day care services and meals, warden charges and supported accommodation and housing support.
The cost of day care will shoot up from £9.25 per day to £20 per day, while the cost of having a community alarm will rise from £3.85 to £6 per week.
Flat rate pricing will be introduced for meals in very sheltered housing after “a number of anomalies” cropped up.
What about staff?
Staff vacancies will be looked at while some posts could be axed, a move that could see the partnership claw back just over £2m.
This could result in some roles being “redesigned” and considering if a post needs to be replaced if someone leaves.
Meanwhile, the partnership will cut back on its bank nursing spend by £999,000.
Bank nurses are often brought in to cover any shortfalls in staff in the event of any absences or particularly busy periods.
Finance boss Amy McDonald explained the reason behind this particular move: “Our annual budget for nursing staff is £47m.
“We spend approximately another 10% on bank nursing costs so that’s around £4m additional costs a year.
“We’ve already started looking at the areas where we can really make good inroads into making that saving.”
What other savings will be made?
Members debated a number of other cost cutting measures.
Care for older people and those with learning disabilities will be reviewed in a bid to save £3.3m.
The way day care is made available across the city will also be considered, as doing so could save £1.4m.
However, the biggest saving will see costs cut across its key “commissioned service” providers.
It is hoped that could save the partnership just over £4.5m.
This would happen by cutting back on non-essential day care services and ensuring the care people receive is given out only when badly needed.
Any changes to services are expected to come into effect from April 1.
‘Priority’ for health partnership to protect Aberdeen’s services and people
Partnership boss Fiona Mitchellhill wanted to assure board members and the public that any changes would be made without impacting on the city’s residents.
She said: “It’s absolutely our priority to protect services and people that live in Aberdeen.
“We absolutely have to listen to the staff that do the hard work day-to-day so we make sure our decisions are influenced by them.”
Meanwhile, councillor Lee Fairfull wanted reassurance that there would be no risk of any budget savings having an impact on other departments.
In response, Ms McDonald replied: “It would make no financial sense to make a saving in one area only to increase costs in another.
“We’ve got confidence in this budget that doesn’t occur.”
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