Council / Community care services stretched but coping
Dedication of staff praised by managers
AS SHETLAND continues to be in the grip of winter, many social care workers are doing double shifts and – quite literally – going the extra mile to deliver essential services to the most vulnerable in the community.
With the wintry conditions forecast to last into the weekend there is an increasing concern for the wellbeing of people who may have been able to cope on their own for one or two days but might become vulnerable as time goes on.
Director of community health and social care Jo Robinson said there was now an extra reason to look out for one’s neighbours and check how they are doing.
While some services such as day care and many out of town services have been cancelled during the last few days, efforts are ongoing to provide as many care packages as possible, often in appalling conditions and with many minor roads still impassable.
On Tuesday, recipients of meals on wheels received two meals rather than one to ensure clients also had something they could heat up the following day.
“The level of dedication from staff is incredible and really appreciated,’ Robinson said, “and it is something that is not seen by the public.
While schools are closed and many people are able to work from home, “care staff are still trying to carry out their visits delivering food but mainly personal care”.
Executive manager for adult social work Ruth MacMillan added: “Generally, the staff do their utmost to deliver as many meals as possible. But if there is someone we can’t get to, then we are looking to contact them or the family to look what other alternatives there might be.
“For Tuesday and Wednesday we are confident that we have managed to deliver to most people; for Thursday that might be more problematic if the weather is getting worse, but we are taking this day by day.”
Robinson said the community care service was also liaising with local schools – closed at the moment – as these have freezers full of food, some of which could be used if needs be.
She added that in bad weather situations like this the various sectors of community care liaise early in the morning (a “huddle”) to identify potential problems and find solutions.
“We get feedback as to what the challenges are, and we look what solutions we can put in place,” she said. “On Tuesday there were a few such as, for example, prescriptions needed being delivered.
“We are keeping track of all the concerns that are coming in during the day and [we] try to find solutions for them, and very much liaise with the health board and rest of the council and the emergency services, if we need assistance.
“On Wednesday morning we called a ‘care for people’ meeting to identify the most vulnerable people in Shetland; that might be for a number of reasons, such as people on dialysis who need to get to the hospital, or the need to get medication to clients or supplies to one of the health centres.”
MacMillan said: “We would like to ask people to look out for each other where they can, and to make contact if they are struggling or have identified someone who is struggling.
“We are contacting the people that we are aware of, but there are people in Shetland who are not accessing the services and may be in a difficult situation and we don’t know about them.”
People can contact adult social work on the duty number 01595 744468 during office hours. The out of hours social work number is 01595 695611. There is always a social worker on duty.
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