Campaigners landed a stay of execution because of September’s deadlock but it may not last much longer.
Campaigners made their voices heard at a previous protest outside Renfrewshire House(Image: Andrew Neil)
Campaigners felt it was “only a matter of time” after it was confirmed officials will ask decision-makers to reconsider cost-cutting proposals that would impact some of the area’s most vulnerable.
Parents and carers have fought tooth and nail to prevent the contentious measures suggested to help close a multi-million-pound budget gap facing Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP).
They landed a stay of execution – one they were not willing to celebrate – when voting members were deadlocked on the issue at the integration joint board (IJB) in September.
But that reprieve may not last as a report to this Friday’s IJB seeks approval to revisit eight proposals it was previously “unable to reach a decision on” at a future meeting. “Possible revisions” could be made to these “where appropriate”, it added.
Jennifer Lindsay, who has family members who attend the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) in Paisley and Milldale Day Opportunities in Linwood, explained the situation has created worry going into the festive period.
She said: “It’s probably what all parents and carers expected, if I’m being completely honest.
“It wasn’t going to go away and we knew it was only a matter of time before it would resurface.
“To bring it up at this time of year, when things are really tough for everyone, it just brings a huge amount of anxiety for people.
“You don’t like to talk about it or bring it up with service users because some of them have got a different understanding of it – some of them understand more, some of them don’t understand a lot – so you tend to not talk about it often.
“But if one person knows there can be a huge amount of anxiety spread across the centre, because one person brings it up and the rest begin to worry about it.
“I know within my own family, we don’t really talk about it with the kids – I still say the kids, I know they’re adults – because you don’t want to cause them any more distress than what they’ve already been through this year. You hold that stress and worry to yourself.
“It is constant. You think you’ve tackled one hurdle and then something else comes along or you think maybe we’ll get the rest of the year out the way, the service users can enjoy Christmas without worry, the parents and carers can think about it in the new year and then something as simple as that one sentence [in the report] and you think, gosh, when is it going to be revisited?
“But we tend to keep going. There are so many things that we have to fight for weekly, so this is just added to the list.”
At the September meeting, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde representatives were willing to accept all measures except for the removal of Childsmile’s community and practice programme which they felt required further review.
These included the reduction of health visiting; redesign of older people’s day services model; redesign of learning and physical disability day services model; a review of respite provision; closures of Flexicare and Autism Connections and removal of the assertive outreach model.
Renfrewshire Council elected members, on the other hand, intended to reject all of them bar a redesign of the district nursing and care at home overnight service which was approved. There was a 4-4 stalemate on the day.
This week, an HSCP spokesperson said: “We appreciate there is uncertainty around the future of our services and for many people this will be causing anxiety.
“The integration joint board continues to face significant financial challenges, but no savings proposals will be considered at Friday’s meeting.
“While some progress has been made, additional savings proposals will be needed in 2026 to contribute to the IJB’s financial sustainability.
“To return to a more sustainable position, we have no choice but to consider all possible savings options, including those previously submitted to the IJB, which were neither approved nor rejected.
“This does mean that difficult decisions will remain unavoidable with the current funding we have available to us. We are currently looking at all areas and the phasing of when proposals are brought forward.
“Alongside these short-term measures, we are laying the foundations for a transformation programme that prioritises prevention, early intervention and partnership working, to create sustainable services for the future.”
The previously proposed redesign of learning and physical disability day services, had it been approved, would have seen a model operate across three hubs – Milldale in Linwood and the Anchor Centre and Spinners Gate in Paisley.
Services would no longer have used Paton’s Resource Centre in Johnstone as well as the Mirin at Lagoon Leisure Centre and the DRC in Paisley.
It was protested by campaigners at Renfrewshire House and Ms Lindsay said she understands why people are beginning to feel weary.
She added: “I’m well aware not all parents and carers have it in them to keep going – they’ve probably been fighting most of their lives for what their kids actually have – so I get they feel tired and frustrated.
“It’s probably up to us and the younger generation to carry it on for them.”
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