Union boss warns cuts to GP support staff will put vulnerable West Dunbartonshire patients at risk

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Lifeline care for some of West Dunbartonshire’s most vulnerable patients could be placed at risked under proposed cuts to surgery support staff, a leading union has warned.Almost half of community link workers will be axed under cuts being considered by West Dunbartonshire Health & Social Care Partnership (West Dunbartonshire HSCP).Now, their union, GMB Scotland, has warned that the loss of four of nine specialist support workers will remove crucial protection and support for patients while piling more pressure on clinical staff.In response, West Dunbartonshire HSCP has said that it is “facing considerable financial challenges” and says it is doing all it can “to maintain the level of service” as it apologised for “any distress or uncertainty this difficult decision might cause”.The community links staff, working alongside GPs in surgeries, deliver dedicated support with non-medical problems impacting on patients’ health, such as debt, housing, loneliness, food and fuel poverty, and abuse.West Dunbartonshire communities suffer some of the highest levels of deprivation in Scotland with one survey in 2023 suggesting life expectancy for men to be the lowest in the UK.

Click here for more news and sport from West Dunbartonshire. However, the service is at risk as a report being considered by the HSCP suggests cuts to surgery workers are needed to deliver half of the £320,000 savings required to balance the books this year.GMB Scotland has warned that the cuts would be a “false economy” as patients’ physical and mental health suffers and pressure is piled on GPs.The proposed changes to the community links support team suggest that the remaining workers could be focussed on the poorest postcodes but Rory Steel, GMB Scotland