Bristol City Council is consulting about the future of adult and elderly care services.
This is an opportunity for us all to raise the profile of LGBT elderly care and flag to care organisations, as well as the Council’s Commissioners for these essential services, the extreme degree of vulnerability in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elders are placed, when they go into residential care.
If you plan to participate, below are some resources for you to look at, for information.
Key reports for download:
Other websites and resources:
Below are the details of the consultation.
From the Council’s website:
Release date: Fri, 02/12/2011
A major consultation exercise begins this week on the future of social care for adults in Bristol.
Questionnaires are now available online, asking people to give their views on residential and day care services in the city. The information will be used to help shape future plans for services in the city.
A series of meetings is also planned, with launch meetings on 5th and 7th December. Further focus groups will be held during December, January and February. Information, timings and questionnaires are available at the following links:
The consultation closes on 29th February, when detailed proposals will be drawn up for consideration by the council’s Cabinet.
Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, Cllr Jon Rogers, said:
“Everyone in Bristol should have an interest in how population changes and future expense will shape the way the we look after older and vulnerable adults. We are particularly keen to hear from service users, their families and friends, council staff and other stakeholders during the three-month consultation. This includes those who use services delivered by the independent sector.
“Personal budgets will give people more choice and control over how their needs are met and evidence suggests they will expect to stay in their own homes living independently with support for as long as possible.
“Bristol is not alone in exploring these issues and many parts of the country are reducing building-based services and investing in more flexible community-based care.”
On Thursday 24 November, Bristol City Council’s cabinet gave the go ahead for consultation to begin on the development of a new model for day services and a three-year plan for future residential care delivery.
Currently day services for people with learning disabilities, older people, people with dementia and adults with disabilities are running at 70 per cent capacity. Changes mean that more users will be given money directly to decide how they purchase the support they need.
Bristol has around 140 residential care homes, 11 of these run by Bristol City Council.
Council-run residential care homes for older people were reviewed in 2008, with recommendations put forward to close all council-run services and replace with a smaller number of resource centres and specialist dementia units. Work on this plan was put on hold in 2010, due to falling property prices and rising staff costs. This consultation re-looks at how services can be improved by developing alternatives to long-term residential care and making best use of all care homes, including the independent sector.
Bristol City Council is undertaking work to transform the way social care is delivered in order to enable people to have more choice and control and to ensure appropriate social care provision for the future.