Strong scorecard for Orkney's adult social care services - but more work needed with unpaid carers

Orkney is among the top performing counties in some aspects of health and social care in Scotland, it was heard yesterday (Thursday 1 April 2021) as Councillors considered a national ‘benchmarking’ report of services for adults.

Orkney Islands Council’s Orkney Health and Care Committee were considering a report of Local Government Benchmarking Framework Indicators (LGBFI) for Adult Social Care in 2019/20.

Of the 11 performance indicators reported in the LGBFI, Orkney has marginally shifted downwards in five indicators, has remained static in three, and has improved in three.

Orkney ranked number 1 in Scotland in 2019-20 for the percentage of people aged over 65 with long term care needs who receive care at home - 77.31% of people, against a Scottish average of 61.65%.

And the county was also number 1 position for the percentage of adults who agree they are supported to live as independently as possible (98.32%, against a Scottish average of 80.78%.)

Orkney ranked second in Scotland for both the percentage of people (87.33%) who agreed this care has had a positive impact on improving or maintaining their quality of life, and the percentage of adults (85.56%) supported at home who agree that they had a say in how their help, care or support was provided.

The report also highlights areas of challenge for the county.

For example, although the second-best performing area in the country, less than half – 41.06% - of unpaid carers in Orkney said they felt supported to continue in their caring role, reflecting a Scotland-wide challenge to improve. Officers have acknowledged in previous years that this is an area that needs more resource, and, in response, have established a Carers Strategy Group to explore why carers feel unsupported and how best to improve their lives.

The county also ranked 29th (out of 32 local authority areas) for care inspections graded good or better. Officers say the poor environment at the old St Peters care home has played a part in that performance grade, and await an inspection of the new Hamnavoe House which has excellent modern facilities. However, officers pledged to look into the matter more closely with Care Inspectorate colleagues to look at further ways to raise performance.

Orkney also has one of the highest costs-per-head of population for residential care and home care.

Chair of the Orkney Health and Care Committee, Councillor Rachael King, said: “While we have challenges in economies of scale, and a worrying picture of the morale of our unpaid carers in the county as seen nationally, this score card is both something for staff and everyone involved in these adult services to be proud of.

“I am reassured that, through the Carers Strategy Group, Orkney will unpick the issues for unpaid carers who do such an incredibly hard and valuable role in our community, and make best use of the resources we have in Orkney to improve their quality of life and that of their loved ones.”

The LGBFI is compiled annually by The Improvement Service – the national improvement service for local government in Scotland. Some indicators are reported directly to the Improvement Service, with data for other indicators being gathered by the Improvement Service from various sources, to which all local authorities make annual returns.

OIC’s OHAC Committee is responsible for and scrutinises aspects of the planning, performance management reporting and financial monitoring for Social Work and Social Care services for adults and children, and criminal justice social work services in Orkney, delivered as part of ‘Orkney Health and Care’, the health and social care service delivery partnership with NHS Orkney.