Project Details - Why do we need to change?

Community equipment services in Wales are in need of urgent modernisation, integration and development to make them more efficient in order to respond to increasing demand. People are living longer and therefore the prevalence of chronic disease or long term conditions and disability has increased. Health and social services together with their partners and family carers are now supporting more and more dependent people in their own homes. The growing population of older people poses a significant challenge to all agencies not only to provide appropriate levels of support but also to promote the independence of individuals.

Community equipment services can promote and maintain the independence of the individual at an early stage and can in some cases postpone or prevent the need for other services.

As the Strategy for social services ‘Fulfilled Lives, Supportive Communities’ states: “Social Services tend to become involved when the individual or the family can no longer cope. The services then provided can be costly and disempowering, and the outcomes for individuals poorer. Services will be re-balanced to allow services to be provided earlier, tailored to individuals needs and prevent or delay people moving to a higher level of need.” (para. 3.10). CESI is a good example of such a service.

Demand on resources for community equipment services is also increasing because of health and safety requirements with increased importance attached to the safety of the carer. The provision of community equipment can reduce the risk of injury. It is also vital to those people who provide care, whether they are family members or paid carers, enabling them to work safely and effectively.

Costs are not simply related to purchase. Equipment, for example, has to be maintained and tested on a regular basis. Equipment cannot be recycled without being cleaned, decontaminated and subjected to infection control procedures.

The service requires a more detailed picture of demand and expenditure to plan for the future. This can be achieved through implementing ‘track and trace’ for equipment along with good management information systems.

In short, we need to make better use of resources and to ensure best practice in terms of prescription, procurement, storage, delivery, fitting, demonstration, servicing, collection, cleaning, decontamination, recycling and performance management. Again, this also requires good management information systems.

The need to make better use of resources is referred to in the Beecham Review – “Beyond the Boundaries” which stated: “…public services in Wales must achieve higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness – the Welsh public sector pound must be made to go further and applied to better effect.”