Charity 'stunned' by care board funding cut

The area's Integrated Care Board said it had retained funding for 18 organisations

Two Stoke-on-Trent charities that support older people have said they face the threat of closure due to NHS funding cuts.

The Beth Johnson Foundation's (BJF) dementia advocacy service and Saltbox's CareLink befriending and health intervention service said they both had their annual grants cut by the Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Sue Read, CEO at the Beth Johnson Foundation, said she was "stunned" by the decision.

The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB said 18 of 21 voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) grants had been retained, and it had funded a six-month transition period until the end of September for three that were not.

It said this was to support the organisations in finding a more suitable income stream.

The ICB added it also offered support to service users of the organisations, which remained open during the transition.

The third charity affected is Moorlands Home Link, which provides day care, meals on wheels and other services for more than 130 clients across the Staffordshire Moorlands.

'People will slip through the cracks'

"The ICB claims that our dementia service can be provided by other organisations, which is untrue," said Ms Read.

"Older people with dementia advocacy needs simply do not meet the criteria of other charitable advocacy organisations, so there will not be any appropriate, local organisations to refer current and future community members to."

She said she believed transitional conversations with the ICB had been "ineffective" in exploring how older members would be supported after funding ended.

"We worry about who would co-ordinate such a diluted service in the future, or whether older community members with dementia advocacy needs will simply fall through the cracks," she said.

Saltbox's CareLink service provides phone calls, health intervention and crisis support, as well as befriending and a falls prevention service.

"What is becoming clear is that it is a dangerous business being an older person in Stoke-on-Trent," said CEO Lloyd Cooke.

"The ICB appears to have little regard for long-standing preventative services which provide a safety net to elderly, vulnerable residents and has based its assessment of our effectiveness as a service on a misinformed and flawed process.

"We have been given no opportunity to challenge this or to appeal the decision."

The ICB added that, as a result of the review, more than £2m in funding would continue to be invested into VCSE services.

It said it would also invest a further £2.2m into tackling and reducing health inequalities and enhancing health outcomes.

It added savings of about £410,000 would be made by the grant review, which would be ringfenced to invest back into the VCSE sector.