Thousands of elderly Hampshire residents could be left isolated and at risk of losing their independence if "short-sighted" budget cuts are given the green light, a charitable care provider has warned.

This comes amid a public consultation being held by Hampshire County Council on proposals which would see £680,000 slashed from its adult social care budget.

The suggested cuts form part of a money saving strategy to help tackle the £80m Covid induced shortfall in the council’s accounts by April 2023.

However, charity bosses are concerned a loss of their services could lead to greater demand on an already stretched adult care system.

Anna Miles is the scheme manager for MHA communities in Winchester, which alongside other branches, forms the largest charitable care provider in the UK.

With help from the current council grant, the organisation works across the county to help older people live independently for longer through a host of services such as exercise classes, doorstep deliveries, newsletters, transport provision and online activities.

She said the proposed cuts would mean care providers like MHA could have to “dramatically reduce” activities and scrap some core services, which could lead to older residents going into care homes before they might otherwise need to.

She said: “We are completely aware that money is tight and cuts are happening nationally, but we live in an ageing population, the number of older people is only going to increase and the amount of services required to support those people to live independently for as long as possible need to be maintained.

“The amount of funding we receive from Hampshire County Council equates to roughly £2 per member, per week. If that member is no longer to attend an exercise class because we no longer run it, they may have a fall and need to go into nursing care much sooner than they would have had to otherwise, and that nursing care may need to be funded by the council.

“All of a sudden, that £2 per week might multiply into £500 per week much sooner than it needed to. So, it very much is short-sighted, because we simply can’t quantify how much the preventative measures we currently have in place are saving, and we won’t know that until they’re gone.”

MHA is currently supported by a network of 356 volunteers, who between them gave up 21,216 hours to help the charity continue its work over the last 12 months.

If it was to pay for that time, based on the lowest pay scale, it would come to £254,168.

Sam Monaghan, CEO of MHA, said: “The services and activities we provide are designed to improve mental, physical, and social wellbeing from physical exercise to social activities.

“We know that our services are vital for the people that they support. Over the past year, our community services in Hampshire helped over 2,300 local people – through befriending services, exercise groups and food deliveries. Throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns, many of these services provided a critical lifeline to older people throughout the pandemic.

“Our work to prevent loneliness, falls and ill health is estimated to create savings of around £312,418 per year for local health and social care services - at least £72,418 per year more than the value of the grants we receive.”

Sue Savidge, an 86-year-old Winchester resident, regularly attends exercise classes, walks, coffee meet ups and lunch clubs through the service.

She started using MHA alongside her husband four years ago. He died last year, meaning the outings are now more important for her than ever.

She said: “It’s wonderful, I like to socialise and go out and meet people, it gives me someone to talk to and discuss things with.

“The leaders are all very good and it’s great getting to know everyone over some lunch or a coffee, there’s all sorts of things we get to do, we’ve even been on holiday together.”

Her daughter, Jenny Savidge, has previously volunteered for MHA. She said: “The services are really important for reducing isolation. During the lockdown period when classes couldn’t be offered, despite the fact MHA kept in touch with newsletters and phone calls and so on, I think a certain level of depression crept in with mum because there wasn’t something in the calendar each week, and she was really keen to get back when everything reopened.

“It has been very important for mum to get back into the classes, especially following her bereavement, and certainly for us to know she’s able to do that now she’s living on her own.”

As it stands, £320,000 of the funding at risk of being cut is provided to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations across Hampshire which support adults to continue to live independently in their communities, like MHA.

A further £340,000 goes towards supporting non-statutory services which help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Hampshire Chronicle: MHA members on an outing MHA members on an outing

Hampshire County Council has said it is "extremely challenging" to find savings across the adult social care budget, and insisted it will help minimise the impact of any changes by supporting affected organisations to find fresh grants and more volunteers.

Councillor Liz Fairhurst, Hampshire County Council’s executive lead member for adult services and public health said: “Finding additional savings across adult social care is extremely challenging, and while significant work continues to transform services and find more efficient ways of doing things, we have additionally had to take the very difficult decision to review some services that we have no legal obligation to provide. This is not something we do easily or lightly, but should any, or all of the proposals be taken forward, we would prioritise working with partner organisations to help minimise the impact of any changes.

“In the case of community grants, this would involve supporting local organisations to secure alternative methods of funding, improve the co-ordination of grant applications, as well as introducing proactive initiatives to help increase the number of volunteers coming forward.

“Homelessness support would continue to receive some £2m of county council discretionary funding, focused on prioritising help in accommodation-based settings, and those services that work with the most vulnerable - as well as delivering outreach and community-based support in those areas where accommodation is not available.”

To add your views to the consultation, which is open until March 21, visit the HCC website at hants.gov.uk/AHC-consultation.

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