A £3 million sticking plaster is just a fraction of what is required to solve Fife’s bed blocking crisis, according to the council leader.
The local authority went with a begging bowl to the Scottish Government to fund an urgent action plan to help prevent elderly patients staying in hospital longer than necessary as they await alternative care.
The Courier highlighted last week how an escalating number of delayed discharge patients has strained NHS Fife hospitals.
The response will provide only “breathing space” to address the issue in the long term, according to Councillor David Ross.
He claimed an additional £8m is needed annually for the provision of social care, soon to be delivered under a joint board of Fife Council and NHS Fife.
He said: “This plan will allow us a degree of stability over this winter and into the start of next year which will give us the time and breathing space to look at the whole system and decide what changes to make with social integration coming on stream.
“Our position, and I think it is shared by NHS Fife, is that it is not one-off money that is required, it’s recurring, ongoing support for this kind of activity.
“In the long-term this will help reduce the pressure on the hospitals. There is an underlying underfunding of the whole system of £8m annually. That’s the level the joint budget needs to be upgraded by.
“The council has reducing funding so we are looking for significant elements of that to be met through NHS Fife and additional money.”
Mr Ross also expressed hope that social care in Fife would get its fair share of the £2billion for the NHS announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his budget last week.
Following a meeting last week with Fife Council and NHS Fife, health secretary Shona Robison said up to 60 patients would be discharged from hospital before Christmas thanks to the short-term measures which include additional transition beds and home care.
Mr Ross was reluctant to talk numbers but said the action would at least stabilise and “hopefully start reducing” the number of patients waiting in hospital for alternative care.
But he said the extent of its success depended on the severity of the winter.
He said he was hopeful that the Scottish Government and NHS Fife would contribute to the plan.
He said: “It was a constructive meeting. The minister understands the importance of investment in social care as well as just the NHS and that’s really encouraging.”
NHS Fife said that constructive discussions about addressing the delayed discharge issue had taken place with the council and government in recent months.
A spokesman said: “A plan has now been agreed between NHS Fife and our colleagues in Fife Council, with the endorsement of the Scottish Government, which should reduce the number of patients whose discharge is currently delayed.
“This plan is now being implemented and we will provide further details in due course.
“These measures do not provide a permanent solution but will allow us to ease pressure on the hospital system and ensure that we can continue providing safe, quality care to our patients.”
Fife Council and NHS Fife have to produce a joint strategic plan for social care by March next year, with approval from the Scottish Government a year later.