Elderly people in East Renfrewshire are “not being treated very well” as a result of “shocking” social care cuts, it has been claimed.

Cllr Kate Campbell, Conservative, said a 95-year-old woman has seen her care package reduced from four visits per day to three visits per week.

She said the cut to the support for a woman who “has lived in the community all her life” is “astounding”.

Social care in East Renfrewshire has been prioritised to those deemed most in need due to funding shortfalls, with an almost £10m deficit in 2024/25.

The changes, known as the ‘supporting people framework’, mean care is provided to those in “substantial or critical need” only, where there are “very immediate risks to individuals”. 

During a discussion on the council’s outcome delivery plan, which aims to ensure older people are “valued” and enjoy “positive lives”, councillors criticised the impact of the cuts.

Cllr Campbell, who represents Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood, said: “I was approached by a constituent six weeks ago with regards to his mother’s care package. The lady is 95 years old, and for the best part of the last two years, she has been receiving 28 visits per week.

“This has been reduced to three visits per week. I think it is absolutely shocking. She is 95 years old, has lived in this community all her life and I’ve been sent photographs of the result of this lack of care. They are absolutely shocking.”

She added health and social care officials had contacted the woman’s carers who reported she seemed “to be managing well with reduced support” but the councillor disputed that.

“It’s not the only case,” she added. “I believe this is saying that the old people in our community are not being treated very well.”

Cllr Paul Edlin, Conservative, said he had attended a meeting with care users in late March where four out of five patients discussed reported “either dissatisfaction or extreme dissatisfaction”.

“These enforced changes are not the fault of the HSCP (health and social care partnership),” he added. “It’s imposed on them by the Scottish Government. We have a situation where these people are suffering extreme distress.

“If our residents are suffering, we should be doing something about it.”

Council leader Owen O’Donnell said the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) response to health and social care cuts had been “a bit disappointing”.

He said its focus had been on responding to a planned National Care Service, but discussions had not considered “how do we improve outcomes for those who rely on us”.

Cllr O’Donnell, Labour, said he was pushing the issue and COSLA needed to be stronger at lobbying for funding for Integration Joint Boards, which direct health and social care partnerships.

He added: “We are not unique in this. We are catching up with our neighbouring authorities who have had to make these cuts to services many years ago.”

The outcome delivery plan states there is a “proportionally high number of people living in East Renfrewshire with disabilities and long-term conditions”.

It adds elderly residents are “the greatest users of health and social care services” and, following the Covid pandemic, there has continued to be “higher levels of demand for support”.

Julie Murray, chief officer of East Renfrewshire’s health and social care partnership, said: “We’ve had to look at eligibility criteria to ensure that we use our available funding to meet the needs of the people with the most need.

“I think that is going well in terms of new referrals, we are managing to divert a number of people to third-sector organisations and different resources. It’s clearly much more difficult to lose something you’ve had for some time.”

Cllr Katie Pragnell, Labour, the council’s health and social care convener, said there are “still some ironing out issues with the supporting people framework”.

She added: “In some instances, we are not quite getting it right, but it is a new process and we are trying our best to review our service and put our residents at the centre of that and try to involve them in that decision as far as possible.

“It is a national issue and I think East Renfrewshire is in a very unique position of having a larger older population and a large young population so that does put increased pressures on our system.”

Cllr David Macdonald, an independent, added the Scottish Government was “finding it incredibly difficult” financially due to “real terms cuts” by the UK Government.