Scottish Care Calls for Urgent Action on Social Care Funding Following IJB Finance Report
Scotland’s Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) are facing significant financial strain, with a new Audit Scotland report highlighting rising service costs, budget deficits, and a 40% drop in reserves. Nine IJBs now have no contingency funds, raising concerns over long-term sustainability. While most planned savings were achieved in 2023/24, many were one-off measures, meaning further budget adjustments will be needed.
Looking ahead, IJBs face a £457 million funding gap for 2024/25, underscoring the urgent need for realistic financial planning and collaboration. High turnover in leadership roles adds further uncertainty, while the report stresses the importance of transforming services through prevention and early intervention to manage growing demand.
Today’s report on the financial state of Scotland’s Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) makes for disturbing reading. It articulates a position of financial constraint and growing pressures which will be familiar to those who provide social care as well as those who access this support.
Scottish Care has long advocated for a fairer redistribution of health and social care funding, ensuring that the priorities of prevention and early intervention are actually achieved.
We welcome Audit Scotland’s clear assessment and support its call for a whole-system approach to prioritising preventative care and support.
Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, said:
“In a situation of limited financial resources, we must allocate funding wisely to truly strengthen social care, primary care, and general practice. We simply cannot continue pouring yet more money into acute and secondary NHS care while at the same time bleeding and stripping out the care and support from social care organisations.
We need to stop people getting into hospital and then being delayed from getting back home – the way we do that is to invest in social care.
Whole-system reform, which includes all parts of the health and social care sector, is now time critical.”
You can read the report here: Integration Joint Boards’ Finance Bulletin 2023/24 | Audit Scotland
