All our tomorrows

Today delegates are gathering in Cardiff to discuss an innovative programme of research and debate on the future of public services in Wales.  Are third sector organisations like Care & Repair already ahead of the curve? Chris Jones writes…..

In an age where over half of the babies born today will reach 100, and the number of people aged over 65 in the UK will grow from 10 million to over 15 million by 2030, we are at a crossroads where the policy decisions we make today will have a massive impact on tomorrows reality for older people – and the cost of public services. The fact that we are living longer must be celebrated, but our ageing society also brings with it massive challenges to public finances.

Looking at the NHS, the average spend for retired households is nearly double that of non retired households and as age increases, so does the average NHS spend per person. So are we being smart enough about our spend? Policy makers and budget holders are still reacting to pressures and demand for acute services and treatment, rather than taking a longer term view and focusing more on preventing older people from needing NHS services in the first place. I accept this is difficult – we all want responsive NHS services at a time of crisis for ourselves and loved ones, and the media focus heavily on waiting times. Our argument though is that by investing more now on services that can prevent hospital admissions, much more substantial sums will be saved in the future and those who still need responsive treatment will get it quicker.

This is the offer of the Care & Repair movement in Wales. We are not for profit, and have a strong infrastructure with a Care & Repair Agency in every Welsh County. All agencies operate under a common brand and have a proven track record of campaigning and service delivery going back more than 25 years. With support from the Welsh Government and Local Government, our aim is to help older homeowners to stay comfortable, safe, warm and independent in their own home, keeping them within the communities and settings they know, out of institutions such as residential care or hospital, or if they are there, getting them home quicker. This helps tackle the problem of ‘bed blocking which is estimated to cost the NHS in Wales £30million per year, preventing older people from falls at home, which costs the NHS £56million a year according to Shelter Cymru’s report ‘The cost of poor housing in Wales’.

So how do we do this? By visiting older people in their homes, listening to their needs and solving their housing problem with a tailored solution. This could range from making their home more energy efficient and warmer; or making sure they are claiming all the benefits they are entitled to, helping them afford their heating bills or enabling them to access all parts of their home with adaptations they need. For every £1 spent on adapting a person’s home – £7.50 is saved from NHS and social service budgets. By focusing on the preventative agenda, savings can be made on services such as expensive hip replacement surgery conservatively costing about £25,000 a go and residential care placement by social services costing around £27,000 per year.

We have started to develop good local partnerships with Health Boards in Wales, and as part of the Community Housing Cymru Group, we are actively campaigning to ensure that the huge contribution Care & Repair and the mutual, not for profit Housing sector can make to the service and financial challenges of the NHS and Social Services in Wales is recognised and acted on. With growing hard evidence that our services are highly cost effective we are naturally pushing for more investment in the solutions we offer older people. To quote the much used phrase – we know we can do ‘more for less’. So, in the age of austerity, and for all our tomorrows, we would urge all public sector services to take a closer look at what we in the not for profit third sector can offer to help meet the genuine challenges of sustainable public services for older people in the coming years.

Chris Jones is Managing Director for Care & Repair Cymru

Care & Repair week runs in Wales from the 6 – 10 February 2012. If you or anyone you know would like to avail of the services of Care & Repair – please contact 0300 111 3333.