The Moray Integration Joint Board (IJB), which oversees the work of Health & Social Care Moray (HSCM), has today (Thursday 28 March) agreed a working budget for the financial year 2024/25.
The IJB will receive funding of over ยฃ190m from its partners, Moray Council and NHS Grampian, to deliver community health, social work, social care and justice services for children and adults across Moray over the next 12 months.
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The health and social care partnership is, however, facing significant additional budget pressures of ยฃ16.5m, including recurring deficits, in the year ahead, leading to a stark warning that significant service change must be made to achieve a balanced budget.
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The IJB members endorsed outline proposals identified by the HSCM management team to save an initial ยฃ9.5m. The efficiencies and savings proposals will now progress to wider staff and public engagement, with officers carrying out integrated impact assessments to fully understand and assess the consequences of any service change, including impacts on different groups of people.
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Although no specific savings proposals were detailed in the budget report, a number of health and social care services will be subject to full efficiency reviews, including reviews of contracts, staffing models, equipment and buildings.
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A review of the contributions policy, which requires people who receive social care to contribute towards their non-personal care subject to a financial assessment, could generate additional income for HSCM. A report will be brought back to the May meeting of the IJB along with the outcomes of the impact assessments.
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An increase of 5.7% on charges for social care services, including community alarms, stair lift maintenance and meals at day services, was approved as part of Moray Councilโs 2024/25 budget in February.
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Simon Bokor-Ingram, Chief Officer of HSCM, said: โThe scale of the financial strain on the IJB is unprecedented and there are no easy solutions. It is important we act now to protect critical services and the only way we can do that is by making significant changes to the way in which we deliver services.
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โIn taking forward our savings proposals, we recognise the importance of continuing to listen to and work with our staff and communities to ensure we fully understand the impact service change may have and so we can mitigate against the risks. This process is all about making the best decisions for the people of Moray in an extremely challenging financial climate.โ
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Since it was established in 2016, the Moray IJB has routinely faced an underlying budget gap that it has been unable to bridge on a sustainable basis, said Chair Dennis Robertson.
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โThe financial strain on public services across Scotland is well-publicised and the Moray IJB is not alone in facing extremely difficult decisions in an effort to address budget pressures,โ he said.ย โNo board member wants to make reductions in services but as savings become harder and harder to find and take much longer to deliver, we have to be prepared to act to protect the delivery of critical services.
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โWe remain resolute in our commitment to prioritise the wellbeing of the people of Moray and protect the most vulnerable and at-risk children and adults in our communities. Everything possible will be done to lessen the impact on the people who access our services.โ
The agenda pack for today’s IJB meeting is available here.
