Services for some of the most vulnerable people in Glasgow are facing a “reset” as the budget faces a shortfall of more than £100 million over the next three years.
The city’s Integration Joint Board meets tomorrow to set a budget for health and social care services for 2024/25 with £34m of cuts and savings needed.
The picture for the following two years is equally bleak as the IJB’s medium forecast shows that it faces an estimated funding gap of £116m between 2024 -2027.
To cope with budgets not keeping up with rising costs and demand, the board said how services are delivered will need to change.
Yesterday, the Glasgow Times revealed the £34m spending gap for the coming year meaning services will be cut, 150 jobs lost and people waiting longer for services.
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Now the medium-term plan includes looking at what services can continue to be delivered.
A report to be considered by the board states: “Earlier this year the IJB recognised that given the scale of the financial pressure being faced in the current financial year and the forecasts for 2024-25 to 2026-27, that there needed to be a fundamental change to the services which are offered.
“The IJB agreed to the development of a service reset which would identify the services which are sustainable both in terms of meeting the demands of the population of Glasgow City but also be sustainable within the financial envelope which is available.”
The IJB gets its budget from Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
However, it has been noted: “The financial pressures facing the IJB are unprecedented and are reflective of both cost and demand pressures.
“The funding allocations received do not fully meet these pressures.”
The council is committing £501,647,000 and the health board £943,801,000 for the next year and it is not anticipated there will be any uplift in the following two years.
To focus on continuing to provide core services to the people most in need “those who are acutely unwell” the IJB is planning to cut other services “which are not core services”.
Unions said the cuts will increase pressure on other services.
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Unison, Unite and GMB are staging a protest today against the cuts ahead of the budget meeting on Wednesday.
Lorcan Mullen, Unison regional organiser, said: “We know cuts and more unmet needs just pile up misery and additional cost elsewhere in the system, in acute hospitals, in emergency services, in greater care demands placed on families.
“The UK and Scottish Governments need to seriously invest in these NHS services, so the hard-working professionals quoted in this story have the resources they need to make this a healthier, fairer city."
Margaret McCarthy, Unison assistant branch secretary for NHS Glasgow Clyde & CVS said: “Unison wants to make sure the voice of front-line NHS workers is heard loud and clear ahead of this budget vote.
“For this city to properly recover from the COVID pandemic and all its knock-on effects, these HSCP services need investment to meet the huge unmet need in Glasgow.
“We urge councillors to do the right thing and stand up for services when this vote takes place.”
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