Lincolnshire Care Association white paper can benefit South Holland, say Glynis Scalese and Melanie Weatherley

Boosting staff levels and building district council relationships are amongst the ways a new white paper aims to improve adult social care in South Holland.

The Lincolnshire Care Association paper has set out a ten-year plan for the sector, with plans to enhance working relationships with the NHS, businesses and local authorities.

This would be achieved via ‘the four Cs’ - community, collaboration, connection and choice - with better integrating care homes into local communities deemed a priority.

One method touted for doing this would be establishing a higher volume of small care homes - an idea approved for our district by health figures.

District councillor Glynis Scalese, who works with the Health Scrunity Committee for Lincolnshire, said: “They certainly get good care. I’m not saying they don’t get good care in a residential home, of course they do, but you get more of the personal touch.

“It’s more like a homely environment if you like, rather than a clinical situation.

“We all know when you’re in hospital, the first thing you want to do when you’re better is get home, isn’t it?”

Melanie Weatherley, chair of the Care Association, agreed that smaller care homes can help people ‘stay as close to being in their own homes as possible in terms of the feel’.

However, she confirmed that larger corporate care homes still have a place in future plans - with Spalding’s Fenchurch House named as a positive example in the white paper.

Manager Nike Ajewole said: “The size of our home means that people can have privacy and specialist care when they need it, but also feel a part of a community.”

Mrs Weatherley, who wrote the introduction to the paper, told the Lincolnshire Free Press that boosting staffing levels in South Holland is currently high on the agenda.

She believes this will be important if a separate target of increasing the number of people who can be treated from their own home is to be reached.

“It’s very difficult in South Holland because there’s no workforce. It’s not that well paid in terms of money, but it’s massively rewarding.

“Can you imagine your job is getting paid to drive around a beautiful part of the world like South Holland?”

Coun Scalese agreed that recruitment is a big hurdle to overcome in our district. She believes this has worsened bed blocking problems, which she witnessed while working in the Johnson Community Hospital.

She added: “The NHS and adult social care is so underfunded - we know that. If there was more funding there, I’m sure there would be more that could be offered.”

Phil Walmsley, chief operating officer for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust - which runs Peterborough City Hospital - said:”Our hospitals cover a wide patch of the region and there is a nuance to the exact number as some are waiting on family arrangements to be sorted out.

“On average, in total for all our hospital sites, there are between 140-150 medically fit patients awaiting discharge at any one time.”

Mrs Weatherley also confirmed that the Care Association will soon begin to work with South Holland District Council within the sector.

“We can work together to create opportunities. I do think working at that district level will be really important,” she said.

Normally, the county council is the only body to get involved with adult social care.

The Bungalow Care Home, in Spalding, was also mentioned in the white paper for being one of the county’s first to introduce a volunteer visitor host during Covid-19 restrictions.

Manager Janet Bolton praised the impact having an extra pair of hands had on her team.