Bravo Torbay carers

They're reducing hospital visits

Adult social carers in Torbay have been praised for their performances and hard work despite challenging circumstances.

New figures revealed at the adult social care and health overview and scrutiny sub-board on Thursday [26 January], show hospital visits from people receiving care at home has reduced in the area since 2020.

In that same year, the council launched its ‘living well at home’ initiative, which aims to prevent people going to hospitals and residential care homes.

No patients are said to be currently waiting for care for excessively long periods.

In December, a small number of people were visited by a carer for a quarter of an hour or less. These visits were mainly to make sure patients were safe, such as having doors locked or had taken their medication, said Torbay’s director of adults and community, Jo Williams.

Cllr Jackie Stockman (Independent, Furzeham with Summercombe) praised domiciliary adult carers. “I think we’re doing really well,” she said. “And the care workers are to be congratulated, they really are.

“It’s a hard job to do, and the money isn’t that wonderful since inflation came in. If you think about it, it’s really hard but I think they’re all to be congratulated.”

Cllr John Dudley (Liberal Democrat, Barton with Watcombe) added that Torbay’s care services and “fantastic,” putting particular emphasis on the support given to carers.

But it is not all good news. One in three (30 per cent) carers in the adult sector say they suffer either ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ mental health, and quality of life has fallen in the last four years, particularly for carers on low incomes.

A quarter of carers in Torbay say they are sacrificing essentials like food and heating to mitigate the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

Katy Heard, carers lead at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, noted the “huge” number of carers working more than 50 hours per week, with Torbay the sixth worst area in the country on this measure of over-working.

Cllr Stockman would like to see if the council can make it more affordable for people caring voluntarily to take days off and hire carers when necessary.

“The care for the individual is a huge amount,” she said. “I think that people of a certain bracket could afford to pay towards it but the cost difference between the organisation that’s providing it and the person that’s being paid is huge.”

Earlier this month, Torbay announced a proposed budget of just over £130 million for 2023-24, nearly £52 million of which is set to go to adult services.