Health, Social Care and Other Support Services

Background:

  • Women in Coventry are more likely than men to need adult social care[i] and more likely to be carers.[ii]
  • Women are two and a half times more likely than men to suffer anxiety and depression.[iii]

 The Cuts and Changes:

  • Coventry’s Adult Social Care budget will be cut by £2,160,000 in 2011/12.[iv] Coventry City Council argue that efficiency savings can meet any shortfall in funding. Others are concerned that services will be cut.
  • Carers’ Organisations like Coventry Carers’ Centre are finding that funding from other sources such as charitable trusts is harder to obtain, putting support services at risk.
  • Coventry Primary Care Trust has to make savings of £5 million on its 2011/12 budget and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust has to cut its workforce by the equivalent of nearly 560 full time posts
  • Coventry PCT is preparing to prepare to close down, to be replaced by GP consortia. Public Health will become the responsibility of Local Authorities.

The Impact: Women in Coventry will be disproportionately affected by any cuts in social care and support services leading to greater inequality (see box for combined impact of cuts on those needing care).

The full impact of the health cuts and move to GP commissioning is not yet clear. But there are concerns about services which are more used by women (e.g. mental health) and about funding for services addressing violence against women.

Read full chapter on Health and Social care in Unravelling Equality here

[i] There are 19,600 women in Coventry over seventy compared to 14,000 men There are 28,709 women and 24,943 men in Coventry with a limiting long term illness. (data supplied by Coventry City Council)

[ii] At 2001 census 16,793 women in Coventry were providing unpaid care to another adult compared to 13,086 men

[iii] Mind, 2011. Women and mental health. [online] Available at: http://www.mind.org.uk/help/people_groups_and_communities/women_and_mental_health#_edn1 [Accessed 7 April 2011]

[iv] Coventry City Council, ‘Equality Impact Assessment on Adult Social Care 2011/12’ in Equality Impact Assessments on Budget Setting 2010/11p.24 available at http://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/894/equality_impact_assessment [Accessed 21st April 2011]