Purpose

Seek approval to decommission the out-of-hours
rota, known as the Staff Visitor Service.

Content

Decision:
Support and approve the proposal to decommission the
Council’s non-social care out-of-hours service (known as the
Staff Visitor Service), effective from 30th September
2025 (or before if consultation is completed in a timely
manner).
Reason(s):

1.      
The Staff
Visitor Service is not an advertised service but is available to
residents and users of Sheltered Housing and Careline. Over recent
years a combination of reduced demand, improved day time services
and the availability of alternative provisions has led to a
re-evaluation of its continued operation.

2.      
Many
functions provided by the Staff Visitor Service are now also
addressed by our Telecare monitoring centre, domiciliary care
providers, or on-call housing staff which has rendered the existing
rota increasingly redundant.

3.      
Over the
past six years, there has been declining demand. Call outs have
decreased by approximately 90.66% reflecting that requirements for
this service have changed.

4.      
Call outs
have been non-emergent in nature, mostly relating to equipment
faults and lost equipment. Evaluation of other Local Authority
services showed that these types of calls are dealt with during
working hours and have a 24hr response time.

5.      
The
service operates at a high cost per visit due to the low call-out
volumes and the need for stand-by staffing. The annual budget for
salaries of £41,156.42 is no longer justified by usage
levels.

6.      
Workforce
pressures has meant that recruiting and retaining staff for out of
hours roles has proven difficult, leading to concerns over
inconsistent service delivery longer term.
Other options considered and rejected by the
Executive:
To
not decommission and close the Staff Visitor Service. 
Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or
lead councillors and any dispensation granted:
None.