Cuncil is failing vulnerable peple’
LEADING natinal charity Help the Aged has accused the cunty cuncil f failing the area s mst vulnerable adults. The charity has expressed its fears as the cuncil plans t cut mre than £5 millin frm adult supprt. Nw the cuncil s pr recrd n
LEADING natinal charity Help the Aged has accused the cunty cuncil f failing the area's mst vulnerable adults.
The charity has expressed its fears as the cuncil plans t cut mre than £5 millin frm adult supprt.
Nw the cuncil's pr recrd n adult supprt is impacting n lder peple's scial care, anther inspectin has discvered.
The number f lder peple helped t live at hme is less than in similar cuncil areas and there are delays in discharging the elderly frm hspital, Audit Cmmissin inspectrs discvered.
Mervyn Khler, special advisr t Help the Aged said: "Peple shuld be asking questins abut the cuts in this area, which is fundamental t the grwing ppulatin f elderly peple.
"The wrrying trend is the scial care issues in this cuntry are falling apart at the seams. We seem t be cntent with prviding a shabby service withut making an effrt t imprve it.
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"It's nt rcket science that if we neglect peple when they need a lw level f care it will escalate int a critical situatin, and that's false ecnmy.
"Failing t d mre than meet the minimum requirements means failing sme f sciety's mst vulnerable peple.
"It's crucial that Cambridgeshire Cunty Cuncil acts n this pr perfrmance rating."
The charity's cncerns cme after cuncillrs gave the g-ahead fr a £1.4 millin increase in scial service care charges and a £240,000 saving by cutting ut 10 care hme beds this year with mre t fllw next year.
In the latest Crprate Perfrmance Assessment, Cambridgeshire Cunty Cuncil was give a tw-star rating fr verall perfrmance, falling frm "excellent" in 2004 t "meeting nly the minimum requirement" nw.
"The cuncil actively seeks the views f different cmmunities but des nt have a cmprehensive and up-t-date understanding f the needs f all its cmmunities," the reprt said.
"Targets t deliver ambitins are nt cnsistently clear r challenging."
Cambridgeshire cunty cuncillr, Fred Yeulett, prtfli hlder fr enhanced services, said: "We are wrking jintly with the primary care trust t imprve services fr lder peple and we are endeavuring as far as pssible t reduce any effect n frnt-line services.
"I feel that we are seeing sme imprvement. Nw we must take this frward and nt allw it t slip back again and this is ne f the messages we are trying t get ut t peple."
He added that the Gvernment's lw settlement fr Cambridgeshire leaves the cuncil "between a rck and a hard place".
