Dudley Council to invest £7.7m in health and social care
Council bosses have unveiled plans to invest nearly £8 million in improving health and adult social care services across the Dudley borough.
It comes after residents highlighted in a recent budget consultation that services for older people should be a top priority for the authority.
At a meeting next week, Dudley Council will be asked to give the green light for an additional £7.7m of investment in services over the next three years.
If approved, it will see the authority invest more than £2m to maintain initiatives introduced in recent years and originally funded through the Government's Improved Better Care Fund, to avoid hospital admissions and accelerate hospital discharges.
The initiatives have helped ease the pressure on services and significantly reduced the number of cases of delayed transfers of care, which Dudley Council is committed to continuing to support.
Cash is also earmarked to help with growing demand for care for people with complex dementia and learning disabilities – and to meet the rising cost of care.
Councillor Nicolas Barlow, Dudley Council's cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: "Residents have told us that services for older people are their top priority and we completely agree.
"In recent years, thanks to government funding, we have been able to change the way we work to make it easier for people to access the services they need.
"We know there will always be more to do but this investment package will help us continue to ease the pressure on key front line services and maintain the positive momentum."
Dudley Council will discuss the plans at their meeting on Monday.
