Adult Day Services and Respite Services Follow-up Survey: results letter
Letter from Maree Todd, Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport to local authorities and health and social care partnerships with the findings of the follow-up day services and respite services survey.
Local Authority Chief Executives and HSCP Chief Officers
cc Cosla
15 June 2023
Dear All
Adult Day Services and Respite Services Survey
Further to Mr Yousaf’s letter of 1st of December 2022, I wanted to write to you to express my thanks for taking the time to respond to the Building Based Adult Day and Respite Services follow up survey.
In his letter, Mr Yousaf outlined the importance of adult day and respite services and their crucial role in supporting the people who use them, as well as to their unpaid carers and families. This is a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree. I want to take this opportunity to share my appreciation for the hard-working staff who continue to support those with care and support needs throughout the ongoing pressures facing the social care support sector.
Both surveys carried out in 2022 allowed the Scottish Government to capture deeper insights into the challenges around the re-opening of services and a realistic understanding of current capacity levels. A summary of the data gathered following the second survey is attached to this letter.
From your responses, it is evident that the changes made to the Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult social care building-based day services guidance in May 2022 to remove physical distancing measures has resulted in more services being accessible to those who need them. However, pressure regarding recruitment and staffing continue to delay services meeting pre-pandemic levels.
We are continuing to work on a number of projects to assist in addressing ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. I would also like to share some of the additional steps we intend to take regarding building based adult services.
Collecting meaningful information and data is extremely important, therefore we are now working in partnership with Public Health Scotland and many representatives from local authorities and health and social care partnerships to review the data we currently collect regarding social care support from home. This will include data regarding building based services.
The surveys carried out in 2022 allowed the Scottish Government to learn in detail the specific pressures facing day and respite services, and I intend to repeat this survey on an annual basis with the next proposed collection taking place in January 2024.
We will also commence a review with a view to removing the Coronavirus (COVID-19): adult social care building-based day services guidance.
Thank you once again for your survey returns and the helpful contextual information that was provided with them. This has greatly helped our understanding of the pressures faced by the sector, and I look forward to building on it to ensure that people can access the services they need.
Should you have queries, please contact Pamela Hawkins in the Improving Standards and Quality Division via Careathome@gov.scot.
Thank you once again.
Yours sincerely
Maree Todd
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