Members of the public are invited to have their say on the Dundee Integration Joint Board’s (IJB) spending priorities for the year ahead as it launches is budget consultation for 2025/26.
The IJB oversees services delivered by the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership. These include adult and older people’s community social care services, residential care and care at home, community health services, palliative care, mental health and learning disability services.
The consultation will ask people for their feedback on a range of specific options put forward in response to the significant budget gap for the upcoming financial year.
A saving of £19.7 million is needed to for the IJB to deliver a balance budget.
Options being considered to meet the budget gap include:
Reducing the number of care home placements the Partnership purchases from the independent (private) sector - £500,000 saving
Reviewing the Health and Social Care Partnership's Community Meals Service £100,000 saving
Reducing the amount of funding that the IJB provides to the Third Sector -£2,492,000 saving
Reviewing how care is provided for Medicine for the Elderly and Palliative and End of Life Care to support individuals to be cared for at home - £200,000 saving
Removing flexibility in service budgets that allow them to respond to unexpected increased demand during the year – £2,046,000 saving
The full consultation survey can be found here Consultations and Surveys | Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership.
The consultation will run from Friday 14 February to Wednesday 5 March 2025.
Free internet access is available in all libraries, with IT support from staff. Citizens can also take part via paper forms available in libraries in Dundee and Claverhouse Social Work Centre from Monday 17 February.
Participants can respond to as many or as few of the specific options as they wish.
Chair of the Integration Joint Board Councillor Ken Lynn said: “The options put forward in this consultation are difficult and we understand that.
“There are no easy options left to reduce spending or to do this in a way that doesn’t directly affect people as we need to deliver a balanced budget.
“The Health and Social Care Partnership carries out essential work to support some of the most vulnerable people in the city. It supports people to live at home independently, supports mental health services, and supports GP services and so much more.
“As demand for these services increases, we need to make informed decisions on how to prioritise our resources.
“This is the first time that detailed savings options have been put to the public by the Health and Social Care Partnership. We are keen to understand the implications that each of them would have.
“I want to stress that no decisions have been taken. We want your feedback so we can understand your priorities and any impacts that changes will have and what they could mean for you.
“The more people who take part, and the more detailed feedback given, the more informed our decision making will be.”
This consultation will gather information to allow the IJB to assess the positive or negative impacts of any final decision, particularly on those with protected characteristics. The characteristics protected by law are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
An analysis of survey responses will be presented to Dundee IJB at their 2025/26 budget setting meeting on 26 March 2025.