Councillors cast doubt over Orkney’s ‘top-ranking’ care figures

Are Orkney carers being supported enough in their roles? That was the question on the lips of councillors last Thursday, as Orkney Health and Care (OHAC) committee was presented with annual performance statistics for the service.

Orkney boasts the second-to-top spot in all of Scotland when it comes to carer satisfaction, according to a national benchmarking report for 2019/20. But councillors voiced doubts over whether this represented a real win for the county, when it was revealed that, in percentage terms, this meant that only 41.06 per cent of Orkney carers felt supported in continuing their role. That may be a greater proportion that the Scottish average — which is below 40 per cent — but it represents a drop in Orkney’s satisfaction rate of more than seven per cent since 2018.

As such, several committee members said that they were keen to “tease out” more for from these figures.

Full story in The Orcadian, available now online and in shops.