PEOPLE in Dunoon and Bute are being asked how and where they would like to receive care as they grow older, amid warnings that Argyll and Bute could face a shortfall in residential care places as demand increases over the next 20 years.
Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has launched a major engagement programme as it considers the future of care homes and other services for older people across the area.
Local residents will have the opportunity to speak directly to the project team when drop-in sessions from 11am to 3pm are held in Rothesay on Thursday, October 1 and Dunoon on Tuesday, October 6.
The Bute session will take place at the Bank of Ideas in Rothesay, while the Dunoon event will be held in the Argyll Suite at the Queens Hall. Both will run from 11am until 3pm.
The review is looking beyond traditional residential care, considering the range of accommodation and support people might need as they age, including supported living.
At the heart of the exercise is a question the HSCP wants local people to help answer: where and how do they want to live as they grow older?
The partnership says it needs to develop a long-term model capable of meeting increasing demand while ensuring care facilities and services are sustainable and suited to the needs of individual communities.
An assessment already carried out by the HSCP has identified a projected shortage of residential care capacity as demand increases over the next two decades.
An ageing population is placing increasing pressure on social care nationally, while difficulties recruiting and retaining staff are adding to the challenge.
The HSCP says those issues can be particularly difficult in Argyll and Bute because of its rural and island geography.
Its review will use population analysis alongside feedback from residents, organisations and other stakeholders to consider what services will be required in future and how available resources can best be used.
Nicola Gillespie, Argyll and Bute HSCP’s Head of Service for Complex Care and Registered Services, said local knowledge would be important in identifying potential solutions.
“Managing care for older people, particularly in rural locations, is extremely complex, and we need community input to help ensure that the most appropriate solutions are identified and that people continue to receive the highest quality of care in the future,” she said.
“Public involvement will support more informed and constructive decision-making, helping to achieve the best possible outcomes.”
She added that the partnership was also looking for ideas from residents based on their own experiences of care.
“We also welcome innovative ideas from local people on how services could be developed and improved,” she said.
“We must ensure that we can meet future care needs, and by working together to identify the right solutions, we can deliver significant and far-reaching benefits.”
Those unable to attend the Rothesay or Dunoon sessions will also be able to take part in an online event from 6.30pm to 8pm on Monday, October 5, as well as submitting feedback through an online survey.
The wider engagement programme runs until Sunday, October 11, with the findings expected to help shape decisions about the future provision of care for older people across Argyll and Bute.
