Winter plans to safeguard vulnerable adults in Wolverhampton drawn up by council bosses

Long-range forecasters are predicting blankets of snow this winter due to the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, which is an indicator that severely cold weather is on the way.

In a report to the council, Director of Adult Social Care Becky Wilkinson said: “The winter period is defined by the NHS as running from October to March. It is recognised as the one of the biggest pressures for the health and care system nationally. Last winter 98 per cent of adult social care discharges took place within 48 hours.

“Learning from the successes of last year, we have built on the strength of our partnership working, which has included a full evaluation of schemes that were implemented in the previous winter to inform our decision-making. Wolverhampton has been allocated £3,453,504 from the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund for 2023-24, with the council receiving £2,069,492 and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) getting  £1,384,012.

“This funding is used to support an increase in social care capacity – providing more care packages to more people, in ways that have the greatest possible impact in reducing delayed discharge from hospitals. Also, ensuring our local partners can plan services sufficiently far in advance and our providers can develop long-term workforce capacity plans,” she added.

“An Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) hub is being commissioned during the winter months to provide access to same-day urgent assessments for both adults and children, preventing unnecessary hospital attendances and ambulance conveyances. The service will operate from the Phoenix Centre Monday to Friday between 1-8pm with a minimum of 42 appointments provided per day. This is expected to go live on December 4.

“Pharmacies are being encouraged to sign up to deliver flu and covid

vaccinations to support primary care, and from December they will be delivering services for seven common conditions including earache, sore throat and urinary tract infections (UTIs). This means that patients will be able to access medication without the need for a GP appointment.

“During the Christmas period pharmacies across Wolverhampton will also be

participating on a rota basis to ensure that there are 4-6 pharmacies open across the city during Bank Holidays,” said Ms Wilkinson.

The Adult Scrutiny Panel will discuss the preparations next Tuesday.