Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Winter is coming: Warning as Fifers wait up to 108 days for care at home

Care at home packages are delayed.
Care at home packages are delayed.

Long delays for care at home packages – which have seen Fifers in some areas wait for 108 days – need resolved before winter.

That’s the view of Alex Rowley MSP, who’s warned there will be problems and pressures ahead if more isn’t done now to address above-average waiting times in some areas of the Kingdom.

A report to Fife Council’s North East Fife area committee has highlighted the average waiting time for a new or amended care at home package in Fife is 77 days.

But in:

  • South West Fife it’s 108 days.
  • Levenmouth nearly 92 days.
  • North East Fife 86 days.
Alex Rowley MSP.

Care at home service is care provided in your own home, allowing people to maintain their independence.

Care workers make regular visits to support people with day-to-day tasks in their own home and community, reducing the need for admission to care homes.

‘Action is needed’

Mr Rowley says he’ll raise the matter in the Scottish Parliament to get results as Fife Health and Social Care Partnership admitted this week high demand is having an impact.

Mr Rowley said: “This cannot be acceptable to our residents in any part of Fife but it is clear the Partnership is finding it more difficult to cover the rural areas for home care.

“In Kirkcaldy, the waiting time is 55 days – 53 days less than South West Fife.

“This needs to be addressed very quickly. Services across Fife should be delivered at the right time in the right place with the right care package.

Fifers face delays getting home from hospital.

“Kirkcaldy has the highest number of services users and hours allocated but have the lowest waiting time for new or amended care home package.

“So something is going in the right direction, we need other parts of Fife to follow.

Mr Rowley added he has heard issues with recruitment in the private sector due to lower wages and terms and conditions could be having an impact and added:

“Community care can’t be delivered on the cheap.”

“We then have the knock on impact on hospitals and bed blocking which is on the rise in Fife and families tell me their loved ones, who are medically fit to leave, are being told the waiting times are very high, so it’s not good.”

A meeting between the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership, NHS Fife and Mr Rowley is scheduled for next month.

He added: “I will also be raising this directly with the Scottish Government and tabling a question in parliament on this issue as we need to resolve it before winter where the pressures on these services will grow.”

‘Challenges are being addressed’

Lynne Garvey, Head of Community Care Service, Fife Health & Social Care Partnership said high demand for services is having an impact on the ability to deliver care packages.

“It’s our priority to get people home when they are medically fit and this is monitored daily.

“We are implementing a number of steps to ensure people are transferred home and a timely discharge from hospital.”

Recruitment is also an issue being addressed, she added.

“Recruitment within our in-house service and external providers remains a challenge in Fife, and there is a recruitment drive in place to attract more home carers.

“Additional training may also be needed for some care roles and again this is being progressed. We will continue to work with partners and private providers and test different models to optimise person-centred care.”