A major overhaul in how social care is provided in Bexley is set to be given the green light.

An increasing population with more complex needs than ever before has put pressure on care services across the country.

Councillors in Bexley are set to approve a revamp in how care is provided, increasing its use of voluntary and private organisations and saving cash on temporary staff.

The current system in Bexley is “unsustainable”, and new plans suggest reducing the “footprint” of council services by having low level assessments carried out by third parties.

According to a new report: “It is increasingly difficult for council’s with social services responsibilities to juggle social care demand growth with all of their other public service duties.

“Councils, therefore, are having to find different and imaginative ways to meet the demographic challenge.

“We know we have and will continue to have greater and more varied needs within the population with proportionately less funding.”

According to a council spokesman, third parties are not currently allowed to make basic care assessments.

“Instead, referrals are made to adult social care, which involves bureaucracy and delay”, a statement explains.

The new procedures, which would be consulted on with staff, would have third party and voluntary groups undertaking low level assessment work for “people they already know and support”.

If accepted, there would be a smaller role for council’s adult social care, reducing the spend on agency staff and freeing up to £500,000.

Speaking ahead of Bexley’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 11, cabinet member for adult services councillor Brad Smith, said: “We are constantly looking at new approaches to delivering integrated and seamless care for those who need it.

“What we’re proposing is something truly transformation that includes processes across adult social care, health and the third and private sectors.

“This is about empowering individuals to make decisions about their care by enabling the care providers who know them best to make basic care assessments, rather than  refer on to adult social care.

“This would mean that adult social care services could focus on those in greatest need.”