Govan doctor warns cuts to community link workers will be 'catastrophic'
Doctors in some of Scotland’s poorest areas are warning that plans to cut Community Link Workers could cost lives.
Doctors in Glasgow say that they won’t be able to do their jobs properly if cuts to Community Link Workers (CLWs) go ahead.
Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is looking to reduce the number of CLWs from 64 to 42.
CLWs offer much-needed support on issues such as debt, housing, domestic violence and loneliness so that doctors can focus on providing medical advice and treatments.
Deep End GPs - who work in the 100 most deprived areas of Scotland - say the cuts will limit their ability to work efficiently.
Doctor John Montgomery from the Govan Health Centre, a Deep End surgery, says it’s “irresponsible” to remove link workers who do such an “invaluable” job.
He said: “I’ve been a GP in Govan for some 36 years, and I’ve seen some really crazy decisions made on health over the years, but this is bordering on being outright dangerous.”
“It’s almost going out of your way to specifically target the most vulnerable by removing a service that they are so dependent on, and that’s made an enormous difference to our ability to do the job.”
Montgomery says that losing key members of staff will not only add to the overall stress and workload practices but will worry patients as well.
He said: “Our link worker has been working with these vulnerable patients for years.
“When she has had to have discussions with them about the potential removal of her services, you can imagine the distress it has caused because they very much rely on her as the go-to person.”
Links workers will often help people with their debt, which can be a huge concern for people in the most deprived areas like Govan.
Montgomery added: “To do this at a time when there’s a cost-of-living crisis, and you’re deliberately going to take away a resource that’s designed to help the most vulnerable in society – it just beggars belief.”
The Scottish Government has offered to fund half of the money needed to prevent the cuts to CLWs, but Glasgow’s HSCP says it won’t be enough.
The social care service said they would have to divert other funding to match the government after cuts of nearly £22m earlier this year.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We invest £2m in Community Links Workers and £20m in other support services in primary care as part of our Primary Care Implementation Plan. CLWs are a valued element of our support for primary care in the city, but we do have finite resources available to us, and we must work with the money we have available.
“We received a formal offer from the Scottish Government regarding additional funding for CLW which we responded to. We are keen to continue discussions with the Scottish Government, but their offer of funding being contingent on us diverting additional money from other over-stretched services is not something we can comply with given the very serious financial challenges we are facing across all our business.”