Living Lab 3

Care in Place

As with most areas in Scotland, Covid-19 has heightened pressures within the health and social care sector in Moray, most notably within care in the community.

The areas which were most challenging for older people and their families included:

• Long waiting times for assessment and care packages
• How to prevent a crisis that leads to hospital admission
• Tackling loneliness which was exacerbated during COVID-19 and in a rural context is more problematic
• The level of services needed by the community outweighs the capacity of the workforce
• Additional pressure placed on unpaid carers

Previous consultation work within Moray (and across Scotland) tells us that citizens using services, and professionals working in services, want to improve communication, prevent duplication, improve decision-making, and access to services when required.

Carers describe situations where they must repeat information frequently and update support staff, GPs, and others on the person’s changing needs.

Professionals want to know the full picture of concerns for the person they are assessing or supporting and often information that could be useful is not accessible to them.

This situation has an impact on the time professionals take to assess citizens, who need support, and the ease of access to services.

Care in Place will explore how we can find a better way of doing this and share information more effectively.

Care in Place aims to use digital technologies that will not only relieve pressures on health and care services but will also provide the necessary support for unpaid carers who were relied upon during the pandemic.

Make sure you join our Citizen Panel to get involved in activities!