Financial recovery plan for Health and Social Care Partnership

At national and local levels, health and social care services are experiencing increasing and unsustainable pressures and in recognition of this, a taskforce will now be formed by the Council to implement appropriate financial recovery measures. This will be led by the Chief Executive and will include the Director of the East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Governance Officer. There will be clear reporting back to elected members, and the leaders of the political parties will be engaged between reports.

The HSCP will require to consider where and how it can make savings to tackle the overspend and NHS Ayrshire and Arran will also be approached with a view to sharing some of the cost burdens going forward.

There is already a programme of actions being undertaken to ensure efficient delivery of service and to reduce demand. In introducing new actions, the taskforce will aim to mitigate the impact on existing care packages and support, however it is recognised that this will be challenging given the scale of overspend. The aim will always be to ensure those most in need are provided with appropriate support, in line with existing eligibility criteria.

The taskforce will also look into further supporting the existing programme of local training pathway initiatives to help address recruitment and retention challenges in the health and social care workforce.

Elected members agreed, alongside the Integration Joint Board, to facilitate local conversations about rethinking social care, as well as establishing a dedicated Review and Redesign Team to support the drive towards financial sustainability in social care.

The Council will be calling on the Scottish Government to urgently ensure that sustainable funding is made available to local authorities to deliver integrated social care, improved recruitment and retention of key workers, and to support investment in early invention, family support and community-led services to reduce demand on crisis care.

In addition, it will ask the Scottish Government to urgently reassess the rural health and social care premium in national funding allocations, taking into account the higher costs and logistical challenges of service delivery in areas like East Ayrshire.

Proposals for addressing the overspend will be brought back to Council on 29 January 2026.

Craig McArthur, Director of East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are doing all that we can to manage services within budget under an increasingly difficult financial climate and the changing needs of our communities. We want to assure people that, while we need to adapt, and services will inevitably change, we will continue to prioritise equitable, safe and appropriate care and support for our residents.

“This challenge affects all health and social care partnerships in Scotland and health and care across the UK. In that context we will continue to take urgent action locally to manage demand, reduce cost and transform how we deliver care in East Ayrshire.”

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