NORTH Ayrshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership is set to go more than £5million over budget - citing unprecedented demand for services.
Almost half of the overspend is coming from mental health services and almost £1.5million is set to come from Children’s services and Criminal Justice Services, which equates to just under 5 per cent of the specific budget for the department.
Having been introduced less than two years ago, the partnership sees the council and NHS working together to deliver vital services across the region, including home helps, recovery services and mental health.
It is unclear where the overspend will be recovered from but the money will have to come from somewhere else within the budget.
The summary of the year is set to go in front of the Integration Joint Board (IJB) at North Ayrshire Council on Thursday where board members will hear the full breakdown.
Included in the agenda, it says there are four main reasons for the overspend which are: increased demand for services, unfunded services, unachieved efficiency savings and high sickness absence.
The partnership say that the work that they do is ‘demand-led’ and means it difficult to project what they will have to spend.
A spokesperson for North Ayrshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership said:” The HCSP is still very much in its infancy and has achieved a great deal as we look forward to celebrating our second anniversary in April.
“We have opened Woodland View, our new mental health community hospital in Irvine, developed new health and social care locality forums to support local communities and joined together NHS and Council addiction teams into North Ayrshire Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service (NADARS), with open referral for everyone.
“Working together with local people, we continue to make changes to services that will improve people’s experiences of local health and social care.
“These are challenging times and this overspend covers both Council and NHS functions.
“It comes in the wake of unprecedented demand for the lifeline services we provide to some of the most vulnerable people across North Ayrshire.
“The work we do is demand-led and therefore it is more difficult to project with certainty how much will be spent from year to year.
“Care at Home services have experienced a 30 percent increase in demand in the past six months. This increase in demand is exceptional.
“It is outwith the control of the Partnership and funding has not kept pace. This means we have an overspend and our Care at Home service now has a waiting list.
“£1m of the overspend relates to children’s services. We must provide services to ensure children remain safe and secure.
“The HSCP are continuing to look at ways this overspend can be recovered in forthcoming years without jeopardising the services we provide.
“This includes the development of a medium-term financial plan and a transformational change programme.”