Some interesting questions from Hansard

Some interesting questions came up in Hansard recently.

The Singular Case of Special Needs

Deputy Mike Higgins asked Minister for Health Andrew Green for “a breakdown of the number of front line social workers (as opposed to managers) employed by his department showing their qualifications, time spent working in social work; and the number of years they have worked for the department, and the number of years they have worked for the department”

Among the figures given in response, I was rather appalled to see “Special Needs Service – one”. While children are at school they get help because that is mandatory under the Education Law. After they leave, the support drops off steeply – one parent described it as driving off a precipice.

It is I think quite appalling that the figures given show only one special needs front line social worker, and it is high time that more resources were put into helping parents. Parents of handicapped adults, especially those whose behaviour can be challenging, struggle to keep their heads above water. By looking after their adult children, they save the States a huge amount of money, but it seems that the States is not prepared to properly resource them.

The Limes: Evicted and Paying for the Privilege

Deputy K.C. Lewis of St. Saviour asked Andrew Green, the Minister for Health and Social Services regarding the payment of medical bills by former residents of The Limes Nursing Home: Will the Minister advise whether residents who were moved from The Limes Nursing Home will be subject to G.P. (General Practitioner) and other medical bills at their new nursing home and will he liaise with the Minister for Social Security to ensure that this is not a recurring problem?

Senator A.K.F. Green (The Minister for Health and Social Services): Residents that have moved from The Limes Nursing Home will be subject to G.P. and other medical bills at their new nursing home, as is the case for all other residents in all other establishments. However, if they are claiming means-tested long-term care benefit to assist with the payment of their care home fees then they, like others in the home, may be entitled to support from Social Security with their G.P. costs

Deputy K.C. Lewis: I think this is where the confusion arises. People were under the impression that if they moved from The Limes that their G.P. bills would be covered. I only have one parishioner who is suffering with this but I know there are many around the Island. Will the Minister agree to liaise with the Minister for Social Security to make sure that this confusion is cleared up?

Senator A.K.F. Green: Personally, I apologise if there was any confusion. It was quite clear that the residents were told when moving that the costs for them in terms of their residential or nursing care would not change. I am sorry if it was not made clear about the G.P. bills. I do not need to liaise more than I already have with the Minister for Social Security because those on limited means who are getting support through the long-term care scheme may be, depending on their assets, entitled to support from Social Security

Deputy J.A.N. Le Fondré of St. Lawrence: To be clear, residents at The Limes were previously in receipt of free G.P. care and are now having, as a result of the move, and no other change, are no longer in receipt of that free G.P. care?

Senator A.K.F. Green: Yes, those residents who have sufficient assets will pay for their G.P. Those who have not can access that through the proper channels through the targeted support at Social Security.

Deputy K.C. Lewis: The rules may not have changed but the goalposts have certainly moved. For the residents who moved from The Limes, it was not of their choosing. They had to move, they did not have a choice. So just to clarify, there were people at The Limes who were receiving free medical care who will no longer receive that medical care.

What we can see is again a shocking lack of foresight. When Income Support was brought in there were winners and losers, but to mitigate the effects, the Minister at Social Security brought in transitional arrangements so that there would not be a sudden cut off, with people thrown onto finding more money immediately.

On closing the Limes no consideration seems to have been given to this. The attitude of Andrew Green, that he doesn’t make the rules, and they apply regardless – when he is responsible for closing the Limes, is reprehensible.

Old people, perhaps confused by the changes at suddenly losing the stability of familiar surroundings, are also thrown on their own resources. Even if no transitional arrangements were in place, a specially seconded civil servant to help sort out what can be complex paperwork would have been a help.

Elderly people seem to have been marginalised, and while there may have been reasons for closing the Limes, the manner in which it has been done seems to have been badly thought through, with a quite frankly a rather callous disregard for the residents themselves.

Gardening Cut Backs

Deputy G.P. Southern: Could the Minister inform Members how many staff will remain on his books at Infrastructure and what services will be reduced? For example, how will the care for Howard Davis Park take place in St. Saviour under his new scheme?

Deputy E.J. Noel: Two good questions there. I will deal with the latter first. No services are going to be effectively reduced. We will be providing the same service to the public that we are currently doing but in a more efficient manner. As to the number of employees that will remain within my department, that depends on how many transfer to other areas. We have already had some from parks and gardens transfer to and become parking control officers, and we are working with our staff to slot them into other areas where we have vacancies. .

Well I have been around the Howard Davies Park with a horticultural expert, and he was not impressed. Quite how you can garden more efficiently is something that Eddie Noel does not explain, but I suspect it has to do with subcontracting and zero hours contracts. 

Perhaps the Minister could take a leaf from David Tibbatts who wrote that:

"Parks and green spaces are an asset not a liability: We need to focus much more on the unseen financial contribution parks are making to the local economy in so many ways, health, anti social behaviour, community cohesion, environmental quality. Parks don't actually cost money they save us a fortune."