SERVICES in Glasgow for older people face a “title wave of demand” MSPs have been told as health and council chiefs try to meet increasing care needs with reducing resources.

Unless adequate resources are allocated to health and social care, the progress the city has made will not be sustained.

The city has reduced delayed discharge, or bed blocking, by 70% in the last five years but increasing budget pressures and an ageing population means there is no financial savings.

Lost bed days have been reduced from 109,000 in in 2011/12 to 31,000 in 2015/16.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, head of older people care at Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, told the Scottish Parliament Health Committee how the city had tackled the bed blocking issue by investing in care home places for intermediate care, where patients longer term needs are assessed.

He said through investment and service reform the number of people waiting more than 6 weeks had been reduced from 300 to 150.

He said: “There was a one off investment from council of £3m in care home places and a recognition of the need to reform the system.

“We introduced a target of 72 hours discharge for older people to move into intermediate care.”

He said the number waiting 72 hours then reduced from 117 to just 15 in March this year.”

However Mr Fitzpatrick warned continued reduction was not guaranteed.

He said: “This isn’t a steady state. We are dealing with new demand, a tidal wave of demand in Glasgow.”

The councillor in charge of social work in the city said funding was the key issue.

Matt Kerr, Executive Member of Social Justice, said: “There’s a point about how local authorities are funded. Every year in my nine years a as a councillor the council budget has been cut.

“You can’t take that amount of money out of local government and not expect it to impact on social care. It will increase the pressure.”

He said the NHS is always “running to stand still” in budget terms

He added: “It is the same with social care, especially in Glasgow where need is huge.

“I worry that progress isn’t sustainable.

Catriona Renfrew of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said even 72 hours was too long.

She told MSPs that every penny saved from reducing bed clocking was spent in other areas of the service.

Ms Renfrew said this year has been the toughest ever for the health board budget.

She said the acute services could spend as much money as the taxpayer was willing give.

She said: “If you take money out of community care you end up with more people in hospital. If you don’t get the balance right you go back to 109,000 beds lost to delayed discharge.”