I have raised my concerns that more than 370 people were on a waiting list waiting to be assessed for a social care package in Fife as of 3 March 2025.
The latest figures show that the number of people waiting in the community for a social care assessment stood at 352 with an additional 26 in hospital awaiting an assessment.
These figures show a large increase on the number of people waiting for a social care assessment since I raised my concerns last year, with the numbers waiting on 8 April 2024 showing 266 people waiting in the community and 19 people waiting in hospital.
At the time of his previous concerns, I received a response from Fife Health and Social Care Partnership stating some of the reason for the large figures was down to changes in criteria for reporting and that the service has “made significant progress in reducing the number of adults waiting to be assessed over the last few years and continue to work to uphold that improvement.”
However, with figures now directly comparable to last year’s totals, the number of adults waiting to be assessed for social care assessment has increased by 32%.
I have again written to the Chief Executive of Fife Council asking what actions the council are taking to address this backlog.
Despite raising this a year ago and being assured that progress was being made to reduce the number of adults waiting to be assessed for social care packages, it appears that the numbers are only going up.
My office is regularly contacted by constituents who are stuck in limbo waiting for much needed social care support that impacts their lives and wellbeing and also puts pressure on the NHS when we know there are people waiting in hospital to be assessed.
We also know that if not assessed, people end up at the door of the NHS to fill the gap that could be resolved through proper social care.
We need to ensure that the correct levels of social care services are in place to support people to live in the community.
Community Care must never be about care on the cheap and it will not work if the resources and support is not in place.
