Extra social care staff recruited to reduce hospital delays

Powys County Council has recruited extra social care staff in a bid to cut delays for residents who are ready to leave hospital but require care before returning home.

The move comes after the local authority received £1.3 million from the Welsh Government’s Pathways of Care Transformation Grant, part of a £30 million national scheme to boost community-based social care and reduce hospital discharge delays.

Newly appointed social workers, occupational therapists and enablement assessors have joined the council’s Hospital and Front Door Teams.

Community hospitals

The additional social workers will enable the Hospital Team to extend its support to community hospitals as well as district general hospitals, while the extra occupational therapists and assessors will expand independence support, including therapies, for people preparing to leave hospital.

The council is also widening the range of professionals allowed to carry out care assessments. Following a trial in two residential homes, non-council staff will now be able to assess care needs across Powys, with a dedicated project officer appointed to coordinate the approach alongside Powys Teaching Health Board.

Other measures include advance payments to privately employed home care workers in rural areas to secure provision where services have been patchy.

The council will also review contracts with private care agencies to explore changes to terms, conditions and performance measures to improve outcomes.

More investment is also being directed into the council’s Home Support service, aimed at reducing hospital admissions in the first place.

Meanwhile, an artificial intelligence app used for transcribing assessments will be rolled out across all teams, including partner organisations acting as trusted assessors.

Bottlenecks

Councillor Pete Roberts, Cabinet Member for a Caring Powys, said the additional funding was being used to tackle bottlenecks across the system.

“We are using the extra funding from Welsh Government to do everything we can to reduce the delays being experienced by people waiting to be allocated a social worker, for a care assessment, or to start receiving community care or rehabilitation,” he said.

“If we are successful in delivering the significant improvements I’m anticipating, I’m hoping this extra funding for community-based social care will become a permanent addition to the annual local government settlement so we can continue to innovate and transform our services, saving the council and NHS money in the long term.”