Reasons for responder charge waivers

Health and social care officials agreed to endorse the charge, as well as an increase in the social care weekly charging cap from £142 to £167.

 

But Councillor Dougie McFadzean (SNP, Kintyre and the Islands) asked that communication was made to raise awareness of circumstances which could mean the £5 cost is waived for some residents. The new charge is due to take effect from September.

 

An official responded that a meeting is due to take place, with work to be done in the background before the charge is implemented in September.

 

The discussion took place at a meeting of Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) finance and policy committee on Tuesday, May 19.

 

In a report ahead of the meeting James Gow, the HSCP’s head of finance, said: “There is a daytime and nighttime responder service operating in all five Argyll and Bute mainland operational areas (Kintyre, Mid Argyll, Oban and Lorn, Cowal and Helensburgh and Lomond), plus Bute.

 

“The responder service does not cover the other islands. It is not a statutory service and does not typically provide planned care, it is an emergency response for cases that fall short of requiring a blue light response.

 

“The cost of the service is approximately £2million in 2026/27. The process for accessing the service is via the telecare service in the first instance with calls being passed to the responder service where appropriate and/or where there is no named person/key holder available to provide help.

 

“As stated in the budget report, the intention is to implement a charge for access to the responder service at £5 per week. This is in addition to (but separate from) the charge for telecare.

 

“It will not normally be possible to access the responder service (currently provided by Carr Gomm under contract) unless clients have the telecare service in place.

 

“The charge for the telecare service from April 1, 2026 will be £7.25 per week. The charges are being kept separate as some clients may wish to access telecare only, for example if family members can respond, and telecare clients who live on the islands (apart from Bute) have no access to a responder service.

 

“Based on a charge of £5 per week and 2280 clients the maximum income available would be around £590,000 in a full year.”

 

However, Mr Gow added that the more realistic financial benefit will be £300,000 a year.

 

Reasons for approving a waiver to the charge are listed in the report as terminal illness, financial hardship, disability related costs, risk of harm, and service redesign.

 

Councillor McFadzean said during the meeting: “When it comes to the £5 per week charge, for me, often large bodies are let down by their communications and how they pass on their messaging.

 

“It is quite important we let people know there are waivers available if they are getting stressed about the charge.

 

“I am seeking reassurance that we have a communication strategy in place before September for people who are worried about it.”

 

Mr Gow responded: “We have not got it in place yet, but we have a meeting next week about the mechanics of it. Having reassuring communications is really important and that is why we have given ourselves until September. There is a bit of work needing done in the background to ensure it is done in a sensitive way.”