Sheffield Council: Some home care packages costing up to £4,000 a week will be reviewed

Vulnerable adults with expensive care packages will have them reviewed as Sheffield Council faces a budget crisis.
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Finances chiefs say there will be ‘difficult and horrible’ conversations with people as some care packages are costing up to £4,000 per week.

All council services, including adult social care, children’s homes, leisure and libraries, are being reviewed as the authority struggles with huge budget cuts.

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Director of finance Ryan Keyworth told a meeting: “Some of it is about reviewing some of those very high cost care packages that we put in place during the pandemic to see whether they are still required.

Sheffield Council's director of finance Ryan Keyworth (left) says some expensive home care packages will have to be reviewed due to budget cutsSheffield Council's director of finance Ryan Keyworth (left) says some expensive home care packages will have to be reviewed due to budget cuts
Sheffield Council's director of finance Ryan Keyworth (left) says some expensive home care packages will have to be reviewed due to budget cuts
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“That’s a hard thing to do. You’re potentially saying to somebody that that really expensive home care package you’ve got would now be better provided in a care home.

“That’s a horrible conversation to have to have with somebody but it’s quite possible to spend £3,000 or £4,000 a week on somebody’s home care package to provide what is fundamentally a care home in their house.

“There is going to be some significant and difficult work reviewing some high cost care placements that arose during the pandemic as we did our best to look after people and keep them safe.

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“When we put those things in place, almost two years ago, that was the best thing to do because care homes weren’t somewhere we wanted to send people in a pandemic. They are now much safer and it can be the right thing to do.”

Social care is ‘fiendishly complicated’

Mr Keyworth said services were looking to ‘reset’ post pandemic and also take advantage of technology to help people live more independently in their own home without too much help from the council.

He added: “Budgeting for social care services is fiendishly complicated. We have overspent fairly regularly over a reasonably long period of time.

“It’s complicated because you have a very high cost of looking after a single child or single older person.

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“Predicting the numbers we’re going to have to look after, and the exact mix of complexity, is not easy and these services are ongoing, they are not one-off issues.”

Do you have a story about your care package and budget cuts? Email [email protected]