The financial situation at the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership has improved significantly in the past year.
A report going to the Integration Joint Board on Wednesday (June 23) will update the financial year end position. It reveals that the partnership ended the financial year to 31st March 2021 with an operational underspend of around £2.1m, which is a significantly improved position from the net overspend of £4m incurred during 2019/20.
In the past year the Scottish Government has provided additional funding to the partnership to cover additional spending for items such as PPE, additional staff costs, and to support third and independent social care providers during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
In addition, a further £2.8 million has been allocated to the partnership by the Scottish Government to fund the Primary Care Improvement Fund, Mental Health Strategy Action 15 Workforce and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships. This and other additional resources have helped boost the IJB’s financial reserves position.
Chair of the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership Integration Joint Board Ken Lynn said: “Throughout the pandemic the partnership has continued to provide vital services to the citizens of Dundee.
“It’s good news to see the financial position improving which allows us much greater flexibility to respond to challenges and create and adopt new ways to deliver services.
“The additional funding from the Scottish Government has made a huge difference to some of the most vulnerable people of Dundee during the pandemic.
“Ringfenced money for mental health services will enable us to increase access to dedicated mental health professionals in a number of settings across the city and I know this will be very welcome news.”
Councillor Lynn continued: “I have no doubt though that we have a major challenge ahead of us, we are still seeing big demand and subsequent financial pressures in our community and home-based service and we are already seeing a spike in demand for care as a result of the pandemic.
“More people need support to live independently at home and this will be a big focus for the partnership in the year ahead, but I am confident we will meet the demand.
“Having available financial reserves allows us a greater deal of flexibility to tackle some of the demand the partnership faces and lets us take a more creative approach to the challenges.”
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
