People are being encouraged to have their say about proposed changes to a number of social care services in Wolverhampton.

The City of Wolverhampton Council today (Monday 3 August, 2015) launched a  period of consultation into the plans, with service users, their families and carers, staff and other stakeholders urged to take part.

Cabinet approved a range of proposals last month which it says will transform social care services and help older people in the city remain independent for longer.

They include increasing the amount of support offered to older people in their own homes, providing additional hours of reablement at home and developing a specialist reablement service for people with dementia.

The council will also increase the number of residents who use Telecare assistive technology, such as personal alarms and monitoring equipment, to continue living at home.

At the same time, it is proposing to decommission Nelson Mandela House and Merry Hill House residential and short stay respite homes and Woden Resource Centre, which currently provides residential rehabilitation and high dependency day services.

The residential and short stay respite services currently provided at Nelson Mandela and Merry Hill House, along with the high dependency day services provided at Woden, would be transferred to external providers.

There will also be consultation events for members of the public at the Civic Centre on Monday 28 September, 2015, from 10.30am, and Tuesday 13 October, 2015, from 5.30pm, and one for stakeholders, which is also open to the public, at the Civic Centre on Tuesday 6 October, 2015, at 2pm.

People can also have their say by contacting Rose Powell, Participation Officer, on 01902 555494 or via email at rose.powell@wolverhampton.gov.uk. Details of an online survey will be made available shortly.

Councillor Elias Mattu, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Adult Services, said: "Older people tell us they want and expect to remain in their own home for as long as possible, and we need to provide services that help them do that.

"It is clear that placing people in traditional residential or nursing care, even for a short period of time, can create a greater level of dependency than if they were able to stay at home. These proposals seek to use more preventative services to minimise the need for more intensive health and social care support.

"Additionally, we need to ensure that social care services offer the best possible value for money, and as many councils have found, external providers are able to provide high quality services at lower costs.

"This is particularly important at a time when we, like other councils, are experiencing rising demand for social care services because people are living longer.

"Over the coming months, we will work closely with service users and their families and carers, as well as staff, who may be affected by these changes."

He added: "These proposals mark a big change to the way we do things in Wolverhampton, making use of the latest technology to reduce isolation, and engaging with external providers to maintain high quality reablement services which would in turn reduce demands for more traditional forms of care."

  • released: Monday 3 August, 2015