'Impossible' years-long waiting lists for NHS surgeries aren't driving up social care demands, Peterborough councillor says

It’s “impossible” that years-long waiting lists for major surgeries are not pushing up social care demands in Peterborough, a councillor has said.

Cllr Shabina Qayyum (Labour, East), who is also a GP, said that residents are waiting three years for hip and knee replacements, which “in turn compounds on social care needs” as they will have limited mobility until their operations.

Addressing Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) adults and health scrutiny committee, she said: “We’ve got 84,000 people waiting for operations at the local NHS trust. It’s absolutely impossible that it isn’t impacting adult social care.”

“There are providers that are willing to offer their services to cut down those waiting lists, but because of the bureaucracy and red tape that currently surrounds NHS trusts, that process is taking too long and we’re feeling it in primary care,” she continued.

PCC is also feeling it, Cllr Qayyum said, as the responsible body for adult social care in Peterborough.

It had been suggested at the meeting that, while “demand and acuity” in social care for adults has increased, it’s not necessarily the case that this is tied to hospital waiting lists.

But Cllr Marco Cereste (Conservatives, Hampton Vale) said that it’s “nonsense” to suggest that there isn’t a link and that it “behoves us to actually try and find out”.

“It seems to me that we cannot not be under pressure as a council,” he added.

The committee agreed to formally request a report from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s Integrated Care Board, which brings together local authorities and health providers, on the impact waiting lists for hip and knee replacements and cognitive assessments is having on social care and if any external providers have been brought in to bring waiting times down.

PCC’s spend on adult social care has risen year-on-year over the past five years.

The council says that demand “has been increasing for a number of years and is showing no sign of slowing down”.

“This year, we have received an average of 3,514 contacts per month to our adult early help team,” it said in a budget report, “a 3 per cent increase on last year”.

“In addition, the care that people require is becoming more complex,” it adds. “This may be an impact of the Covid-19 pandemic where people delayed asking for help and support to meet their needs.”

This trend can be seen across the country, with the average adult social care spend jumping from £432.08 per person, on average across all authorities, in 2017/18 to £530.78 per person in 2022/23 according to the Local Government Association.