£2million confidence boost for older people in Wales

A scheme run by Care & Repair agencies in Wales, which carries out minor adaptations to older people’s homes to prevent hospital admission or enable older patients to be discharged from hospital more quickly has been awarded £2.094 million for the next financial year, the Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Jocelyn Davies AM, announced today.

For every £1 spent on the Rapid Response Adaptations Programme (RRAP) which allows equipment such as ramps, handrails, safety alarms and door entry systems to be fitted in people’s homes quickly, £7.50 is saved from the NHS and social services budgets – as a result of this, the funding has been maintained at the same level as last year, despite cuts to the overall housing budget.

Chris Jones, Managing Director of Care & Repair Cymru, the national body for Care & Repair in Wales welcomed the funding: “We are delighted to see that the Rapid Response Adaptations programme (RRAP) has been protected in full, and the recognition that this programme helps older people to live independently in their own homes. Everyone knows the phrase ‘prevention is better than cure’ and our services prevent or reduce the need for expensive services like residential care, reduces the numbers of hospital admissions from slips, falls and treatments like hip replacement surgery. Our services also get people out of hospital and back home quicker, making a significant contribution to reducing bed blocking.

We really believe that small things matter, and stitch in time repairs, improvements and adaptations, are more cost effective and keep older people living independently at home for as long as possible.”

The Deputy Minister said: "The Rapid Response Adaptations Programme provides a valuable service that allows older people across Wales to get back to familiar surroundings more quickly and to continue living safely and independently in their own homes for as long as possible. Simple adaptations to a person's home, such as adding grab rails or levelling paths, can have a huge impact on their quality of life.”

“Without this funding, it is inevitable that older people will spend longer in hospital or even have to move into care. Not only would this be very costly to the tax payer, but more importantly it would have a detrimental effect on their emotional wellbeing. 

Gwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Social Services added: “The Welsh Assembly Government's 10-year strategy for social services in Wales, Fullfilled Lives: Supportive Communities, highlights the importance of enabling people to live safely and as independently as possible for as long as possible. Care & Repair provide small, but sometimes essential alterations to people's homes and through this investment more people can be supported to stay at home, where most people would wish to be."

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If anyone would like to speak to Care & Repair about the services they provide, the local rate number from anywhere in Wales is 0300 111 3333.”

For further information on CRC, please contact:

Edwina O’Hart, Care & Repair Cymru

T: 02920 557414 or M: 07791898497 E: edwina-ohart@chcymru.org.uk

Vera Brinkworth, Care & Repair Cymru

T: 02920 576286 or M: 07776 307116 E: vera.brinkworth@careandrepair.org.uk

 

Chris Jones, Managing Director is available for interview

We also have a number of case studies willing to speak to the media.

Note to Editors

Care & Repair Cymru is the national body for Care & Repair in Wales, and the Older Persons Housing Champion.

The 22 Care & Repair Agencies across Wales help older people to remain living in their own homes with increased independence and dignity. This is achieved by carrying out and facilitating adaptations, repairs and improvements for older people in their own homes.

In 2009/10 Care and Repair Agencies in Wales utilised the Assembly’s Rapid Response Adaptations Programme (RRAP) funding to achieve the following:

•  RRAP helped 12,912 people with critical preventative or hospital discharge services
• 15,529 jobs were completed at an average cost of £116 and within an average of 8 working days
• in meeting its objectives 68% of works prevented hospital admissions and 32% directly assisted hospital discharge
• Of the total clients helped 1,931 received a caseworker /technical officer visit to address further housing needs that impacted on their independence
• Over 38% of RRAP clients were over 75 years of age, and 29% of older people that benefited from RRAP were over 85

It is evident that RRAP continues to impact positively on the health and wellbeing of a critical group of older people, who would either find themselves in a hospital bed as a default position or be forced to remain in hospital to recuperate longer than they need to.

For health professionals, not only are ‘hospital beds unblocked’, improving morale and allowing clinical scheduling and prioritisation to improve, but there are clear indications of cost savings. If only a very modest 10% of RRAP clients are considered, the cost saving is estimated as £16,201,760. Thus for every £1 invested by the Welsh Assembly Government in Care & Repair’s RRAP services, in excess of £7.50 is achieved as a cost saving benefit to the Welsh NHS.