Latest news with #HSCP
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Inspections at 7 Glasgow homeless hotels find 'defects'
Environmental health inspections at a number of hotels and B&Bs used for homeless people in Glasgow have led to 'defects and issues' being identified. Last year, the Glasgow Times launched the End the Homeless Hotel Shame campaign to highlight the conditions people were enduring when in need of accommodation. One of the asks of the campaign was for the council to carry out an inspection regime to ensure owners, who are paid millions of pounds a year, comply with decent standards. In the last year, from April 2024 to March 2025, the council paid more than £45 million to private hotels and B&B owners in the city. The campaign heard firsthand from people who lived in the hotels and they reported dirty conditions with stained mattresses and bedding, rats and mice and drug taking and violence going unchecked. The council has revealed it started an inspection programme in November last year and has carried out 18 visits on seven properties up until April this year. Inspections undertaken focused on: Management of Legionella; Asbestos Management Plans; Health & Safety; Management of Hazardous substances; Inspection Checklists; Cleanliness; Pest control; Management of Falls from Height; Window Restrictors etc. Pat Togher, chief officer, Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, has revealed the inspections in a report to councillors. He said: 'A summary of the seven inspections noted a number of defects and or issues that have been identified by Environmental Services staff. 'The defects and or issues were not uniformly identified across all the sites. Each site inspected, demonstrated varying degrees of compliance and understanding of requirements and legislation. 'In response to the inspections and continued dialogue with the HSCP the management of the hotels and bed & breakfast have all responded positively and constructively to the inspection reports and subsequent recommendations. 'This has resulted in no enforcement notices being served on the owners of the establishments with all owners welcoming and embracing the recommendations. 'They have reacted quickly to address any issues highlighted to them following the Inspections.' He added: 'There is now a greater understanding of what is required with regards to the management of health and safety within the hotels and bed & breakfast sites. Consequently, HSCP staff are now also better equipped to understand key areas to note when visiting establishments and engaging with hotel and bed & breakfast managers.'
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
North Ayrshire Council warned of £46.7million funding gap
The report revealed that the council's latest Medium Term Financial Outlook has identified a structural funding gap of £46.7m in the three-year period to 2027-28 (including HSCP pressures). Projected savings from transformation fall significantly short of the savings required. Officers are clear that future recurring savings also need to be made through workforce changes, cuts in services, and council tax and fees and charges increases. Officers have indicated that future recurring savings also need to be made through workforce changes, cuts in services, and council tax and fees and charges increases. However, Audit Scotland claim the transformation programme needs to be sufficiently ambitious to respond to the scale of the financial challenges. The Accounts Commission's Local government in Scotland Financial bulletin 2023-24 noted that councils need to intensify transformation activity, progressing at scale and pace to ensure their financial sustainability. The council's current transformation programme, known as its Sustainable Change Programme, was approved in 2023 and clearly sets out how it intends to transform its services, in line with its priorities, through five workstreams and six service reviews. Between 2021-22 and 2024-25 the council achieved financial efficiencies from its Sustainable Change Programme of £3.136m. They plan to make further efficiencies of £8.5m over the next three years. There was scope for the council to consider opportunities for more radical transformational change with partners. Mark Boyd, Head of Service (Finance), told the committee that in terms of transformation there is a lot of work going on and the solar farms would generate revenue. They were progressing with a number of services reviews like waste services, learning resource reviews and digital workstreams. There was also more momentum about how the 32 councils could better work together. In areas like blue badges, he said they could maybe have one solution across the authorities. Thirty-two councils were all doing similar tasks and they had to look to harness that activity and target efficiency from it. Budget preparations were beginning next week with the executive leadership, the finance boss revealed. There were also ongoing discussions with other Ayrshire councils around wider reform and opportunities to share services and that would continue although there had to be the will to progress that through three separate entities that had to be done at officer level and leadership level.
Glasgow Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
'Deeply unhelpful': Immigration policy impacts on care staff
The Council's City Administration Committee was meeting to discuss an uplift in pay for social care staff and the challenges of securing and holding onto staff was raised. Chris Cunningham, Convenor for Health, Care and Caring and Older People, highlighted the issues that affect staffing. READ NEXT: ' We're not finished yet': Campaigners welcome community centre reprieve He said: 'There are two issues on staff retention. First and most challenging is pay. If pay is not competitive, there are clearly issues. 'The second is terms and conditions, the environment in which staff operate.' He hinted towards the Prime Minister's recent speech and immigration white paper designed to reduce net migration, which has caused controversy He added:'Clearly, staffing issues in this area as well are significant in terms of recruitment from overseas and have been the case since Brexit. 'It is disappointing to see the trend and actions relating to immigration in recent years and far more recently. 'It is deeply unhelpful when there are people who wish to work in the UK and we require their skills.' The meeting heard that funding of £138.1m has been made available for local councils for an increase of the minimum hourly rate for workers providing direct social care, within commissioned services and those funded from Direct Payments, from at least £12.00 to £12.60 per hour from April 2025. READ NEXT: 'Significant disruption' to city centre buses for a year and a half The council proposed to again increase Social Care providers in Glasgow Purchased Services by a 5% uplift in line with typical full workforce costs for Social Care. Pat Togher, HSCP chief officer, also said there was an issue with staff retention. He said: 'The HSCP wants to minimise the attrition rate in the organisation.' He said the HSCP has around 17,000 staff and the attrition rate occurs 'more often than not in areas of lower pay, in care homes and care home providers.' Mr Togher added: We are working very hard on this.'
Glasgow Times
14-05-2025
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Health board failed when it shut special homeless GP service
The Independent National Whistleblower Officer upheld a number of complaints over the closure of the specialist GP service. The practice at Hunter Street closed in March 2023 after a review of services and a move to a 'single inter-disciplinary team'. READ NEXT:Migrants are NOT given houses ahead of local people says council deputy leader At the point of closure, the practice had 167 registered patients and dealt with a larger number of patients on a temporary basis, with annual patient contacts at approximately 600. The complaints, by a whistleblower, claimed the Health and Social Care Partnership 'failed to follow a meaningful process of engagement and consultation with staff'. It was also claimed there was no 'meaningful stakeholder consultation prior to the decision to reduce specialist GP service provision for people experiencing homelessness'. Both were upheld by the Whistleblower Office. The HSCP also failed to carry out a full risk assessment and equalities impact before it took the decision to reduce the service. And it failed to' take action to address the long-term risks associated with closing the service. The INWO issued a number of recommendations to the HSCP to put in place. The HSCP must ensure the principles in their Participation and Engagement Strategy are being met in practice. READ NEXT: MP tells how he served children food at homeless shelter in Glasgow It is also told to be aware of their responsibilities under the Equalities Act 2010 and the need to complete timely equalities impact assessments. At a meeting of the Integration Joint Board, which governs the HSCP today chief Officer Pat Togher said they accepted the recommendations A spokesperson for the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, said: 'We note the findings of this report and as a continuous learning and improving organisation will take time to consider the recommendations. "In terms of our current homelessness provision, we have in place well-established governance arrangements and continue to develop services for those impacted by homelessness despite increased demand and a challenging financial climate."
Daily Record
14-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Health bosses slammed on closure of homeless GP service
Glasgow HSCP shut down GP service with 167 vulnerable patients, without proper regard for their future Health chiefs have been slammed after suddenly shutting down a GP service for homeless people. Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership was investigated after a furious whistleblower flagged the sudden closure of the facility. A probe found that the Hunter Street Health Service, which had 167 registered patients, was shut down without a proper consultation process. The HSCP now faces calls to reinstate the service or risk lives. Scotland's Independent National Whistleblowing Officer ruled that the HSCP ignored long term risks to patients that would arise from reducing specialist GP services. The HSCP, which delivers health for Scotland's biggest local authority area, has now been ordered to implement a raft of recommendations. One source said: 'This was a brazen effort by Glasgow HSCP to ignore all the rules and shut down a vital service to save cash. 'The consultation they were supposed to have was a sham and they were found to have already decided to shut down the service by the time they spoke to people. 'There is now a real risk that people's lives could be at risk because this service worked hard to reach and keep contact with some of the most vulnerable people in Glasgow. 'A lot of the good work that was done has been wrecked.' The Scottish Deep End Group of doctors, who represent GPs working in deprived communities, called for the reinstatement of the service. In a statement they said: 'We are keen to support a positive way forward to ensure there is high quality primary care available for Inclusion Health populations (including people experiencing homelessness) in Glasgow and throughout Scotland. 'In particular, we agree with the report recommendation that 'the ongoing health needs of those experiencing homelessness are understood and services adjusted as required'. 'This health needs assessment needs to be rigorous, and involve all relevant stakeholders, in a way that builds trust. 'We believe that the reinstatement of the specialist general practice should be considered as an option to ensure the provision of flexible, inclusive, tailored healthcare for people experiencing homelessness.' The Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) has upheld multiple complaints related to the closure of the Hunter Street Health Service. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Last year Glasgow City HSCP announced budget cuts of nearly £22m but the partnership said the redesign of the service, via a series of three workshops, was not related to those savings. The NWO disagreed, stating: "The final decision was rushed and rolled out hastily, apparently as a result of the change to the financial position, rather than in the context of the output of the workshops." The rushing through of the closure came as the HSCP formulated plans for its safer drugs centre - The Thistle - at an adjacent site. The specialist GP service was shut down in March 2023 as part of wider service restructuring by Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). But the whistleblowing investigation ruled that a consultation supposedly run by HSCP came after it had already decided to scrap the service. A spokesperson for Glasgow City HSCP said: 'We note the findings and, as a continuous learning and improving organisation, will take time to consider the recommendations. 'We continue to develop services for those impacted by homelessness despite increased demand and a challenging financial climate.'
