Millions of pounds will be given to the NHS and Wirral Council next year to help get people out of hospital and into care or their homes.
It was announced in November that Wirral Council would get £1.5m directly from the Department of Health and Social Care while NHS Cheshire and Merseyside will receive £19.2m. Wirral will also receive £2.1m through the NHS trust.
The first 40% of the money will be handed out in December 2022 with the remaining 60% in January 2023.
READ MORE: Memorial bench to be repaired over 'insensitive' plaque
Any impact from the funding will be judged based on how many people are discharged back home, days lost due to delays discharging people from hospital, and the number of care packages bought.
The aim of the funding is to “reduce flow pressure on hospitals including in mental health inpatient settings” and get more people out of hospital and into a care home or their home.
In a letter, Helen Whately, the minister for social care, “made it clear that it is crucial that health and care systems and providers work together across health and social care to meet the care needs of people and make best use of available resources.”
The money given to Cheshire and Merseyside is part of a total £200m given by the government to local authorities and £300m given to integrated care boards.
Councillors also wanted to see more work on reablement with Cllr Mary Jordan asking to see a report brought forward on reablement.
Reablement is an approach that, irrespective of diagnosis, aims to assist people to continue to live as they wish. It works to enable the individual to do ordinary activities like cooking meals, washing, dressing, moving about the home and going out.
Reablement is a form that aims to get people living independently and continue living as they want to and give them help to do ordinary things like cooking meals, washing, dressing and moving about the home.
Yvonne Nolan said this was important because if people are put into care homes, she said they were less likely to lead, adding, “at the moment it is counterintuitive for them to want to get somebody back home when they are already there. It is not in their best interests to do reablement.”
Councillors were also told at a meeting with people from different healthcare providers in Wirral 29 mental health patients across Cheshire and Wirral faced delays to be transferred into care of 2.6 years or 962 days. In Wirral this figure was seven.
In a discussion of key issues relating to quality and safety in care, Wirral Council’s Director of Health and Care asked for standards of health and social care to be included. Care home standards were recently criticised at a meeting.
Eurovision content: The countdown has officially started. Join our Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool Facebook group
READ NEXT:
Share your Elf on the Shelf ideas in our photo competition
Police found man on motorway bridge as predators drove him to suicide
Man arrested as boy fights for life after being hit by car
Full list of bank holiday dates for 2022 and 2023 including Christmas changes
