Hull City Council has been given £1.2m in funding to spend on social care, with the aim of freeing up hospital beds and bolstering the social care workforce over winter.
In September 2022, as part of Our Plan for Patients, the government announced a national £500m social care grant to boost the social care workforce and aid hospital discharges. This was formally announced as the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund back in November 2022.
The NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, the statutory organisation accountable for NHS spend and performance across the area, was allocated £11.5m. This funding has then been split across the six local authority areas, with Hull being allocated £2.2m. This therefore gives the city an overall allocation of £3.4m.
Both Hull and East Riding local authorities and the ICB have come together to develop a joint plan for how this funding would be best spent.
Hull City Council will use its share of the funding to bring forward the planned increase in the National Living Wage (NLW) for domiciliary care workers over age 25 from £9.50 to £10.42 per hour.
It will also utilise the grant to provide additional funding directly to care homes.
Councillor Linda Chambers, portfolio holder for Adult Services at Hull City Council, said: “Everyone knows the NHS has been under immense pressure, especially here in Hull. This additional funding won’t solve everything, but it will help us ease the pressure that the NHS is facing.
“By helping ensure safer and more timely discharges from hospital for residents, they can continue living independently and in the right place.
“The funding will also help increase us retain more of our social care workforce, who provide such a critically important and valued service to our residents.”
