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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."
Edinburgh Reporter
24-04-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Edinburgh Council overpaid staff to the tune of £1.78m in five years
Edinburgh Council has overpaid staff to the tune of £1,780,000 over what is believed to be five years – with councillors being asked to write off almost £140,000 in unrecovered overpayments and implement changes to reduce the burden of overpayments on staff. In a report to councillors, officers said 1,459 staff members had been overpaid in that time – 579 of them being current staff, while 880 had already left the council. The council report said that the bulk of the overpayments – £1.1m – were made to staff in education, including cases where 'council or school management was at fault' which risked causing staff significant financial hardship. Some £440,000 came from the city's Place division, while £200,000 came from the Health and Social Care Partnership, £32,800 came from Corporate Services and £1,600 from the Chief Executive's Office. Councillors are now set to consider a new pay policy, which would aim to make repaying overpaid wages less burdensome. If councillors approve changes, employees who have been overpaid over several months will have at least as many months as they were overpaid to pay back the excess wages. Officers also want to see £139,978.80 of overpaid wages written off, which come from 27 cases of overpayment. All involve situations where efforts to reach employees to set up repayment plans have been unsuccessful. According to the report, 20% of salary overpayments were due to 'processing errors', while 34% was due to issues with annual leave calculations. And 36% were due to 'late information submitted to HR', while 4% were listed under 'system error'. The bulk of overpayments were made to staff on grades 1 through 4 on the council's pay scale, with under a third of current employee overpayment cases and under a fifth of overpayment cases for staff who have left the organisation falling above this band. Labour councillor Mandy Watt, convener of the Finance and Resources committee said: 'Our payroll salary and wage payments are around £550m annually, for a workforce of over 17,000 colleagues, and on average 99.5% of monthly payments are accurate. 'We've recently taken a more considered approach to overpayments, allowing more flexible and extended repayment plans to be put in place. 'Where an overpayment has been made, the new pay policy encourages colleagues to get involved in the process, so a repayment plan can be agreed which takes all the circumstances into account. 'There's also a new HR and Payroll system which gives all colleagues improved visibility of the information that's used to calculate their pay and they can view their payslip electronically each month allowing earlier discussion of any potential issues.' The overpayment was reported in the Edinburgh Reporter last September following a Freedom of Information request. By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
