As you will be aware, Hampshire County Council’s recent consultation on proposals to stop funding three adult social care grant schemes, worth £320,000, has closed. As the council now considers the many responses sent in by the public – we urge them to reconsider the proposals.
The cuts will mean that Hampshire’s growing older population are at risk of losing vital services like those provided by MHA Communities, Good Neighbours Network and Age Concern Hampshire. These services include a wealth of activities that cater directly to older people’s needs.
We understand the need for councils across the board to make savings due to pressures including national funding cuts, but feel that the benefits of services like these more than justify the continuation of these grants.
If scrapped, it could increase costs to both the council and local health services, which in the long run could cost more than it saves.
Our concern is that many older people across Hampshire will be left without the support they need; causing them to lean on GPs and the council for day-to-day enquiries which local surgeries and council officers may not have time to resource.
We believe that the activities and services provided in Hampshire are exactly the kind that the government’s Social Care White Paper aspires to – preventative, people-focused, and seeking to delay the need for adult social care. They should serve as the inspiration for future preventative services across the country’s health and social care system, and Hampshire should support these services to grow, not end them.
To conclude, we urge the council to listen to the many people who have responded to the consultation and reconsider the cuts to these vital grants. We ask this not for the organisations who provide services, but for the older people of Hampshire.
No savings made will outweigh the benefits of these services nor cover the gaps they fill.
Yours faithfully,
ORGS
Jonathan Mace MHA Communities
The Revd Canon Nick Ralph Good Neighbours Network
Emma McQuiston Age Concern Hampshire
Susi Drummond Abri
Karen Birch Anchor
Rachel Pearson Beaulieu Estate
Cheryl Blackman Freedom Community Church, Gosport
Bruce White Community First
Mary Scobell Complex Care Team, Highlands Medical Practice
Cllr Adam Manning Deputy Mayor of Eastleigh
Cllr Keith House Leader, Eastleigh Borough Council
Cheryl Blackman Freedom Community Church, Gosport
Dr Nasser Siabi Microlink
Nikki Cobby Mid Hampshire Healthcare Limited
Priyani Dissanayake NE Hants & Farnham Social Prescribing
Keith Manning Oakley Court
Heather Symons Old Basing Methodist Church
Jo Harrington RNIB
Tessa Notman-Watt Royal Voluntary Service
Donna Bone Rushmoor Voluntary Services
Carol Bailey Seniors Ministry Worker, Winchester Baptist Church
The Transformation Team Social Prescriber - Abbeywell Surgery
Alison Rosenberg Social Prescriber - Romsey / North Baddesley
Clive Cook St John's Winchester
Kate Prowse The YOU Trust
Tim Searle United Church Winchester
Terry Bishop Unity
Jane Peacock University of Winchester
Naomi Irving University of Winchester
Sian Griffiths Winchester City PCN Social Prescriber
Sarah Weekes Winchester District Older Persons Partnership
Sue Boul Winchester Good Neighbours
Claire Coxwell Woolmer Forest Timebank
Do you have a view you'd like to see published? Send your letters to newsdesk@hampshirechronicle.co.uk
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