Introduction
Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP) plans and delivers adult community health and social work services, as well as some hospital services, for the citizens of this city.
It will have a budget of approximately £437 million for next financial year – and it will need to make £14.2 million in savings to balance the books in 2026/27, subject to any changes and updates arising from the Scottish Government financial settlement with will be announced in January 2026, and our ongoing review of demand and costs.
Our governing body, the Integration Joint Board (IJB), will finalise the 2026/27 budget, including savings options on 15 March 2026.
Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership are able to make some savings with some internal review and without impact to service delivery.
In reaching their decision, board members will take into account the feedback from the Public Consultation on the savings options which runs from Tuesday 18th November 2025 to Sunday 14th December.
The Public Consultation will involve face-to-face and online engagement with the public to gather views. An online questions which lays our the options, invites people to explain the potential impact of each option to them, their families and those they care for.
2026/2027 Budget Options
|
Option |
Description |
|
End transport contract for patients attending Horizons Rehabilitation Centre |
Transport service to and from Horizons will be stopped and other travel options will be used. |
|
Increase waiting times for Allied Health Professional services (including Podiatry, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy and Dietitians.) |
We need to redesign Allied Health Professional (AHP) services to prioritise people most in need. This means soe people will wait longer to see an AHP. |
|
Review Care home provision due to changing demand. |
Reduce residential care homes due to changing demand, with more people nowadays staying within their own home or moving into very sheltered housing and reflect current demand for nursing homes. |
|
Review contracts to reconfigure, close or reduce services. |
Review commissioned services and terminate or reconfigure some to ensure value for money and alignment to ongoing needs as well as our Strategic Plan. This is ensuring we pay for what we need. |
|
Review social work out-of- hours service |
Review social work out-of-hours to reduce unnecessary demand. This will include defining the emergency response that needs to be in place. |
|
Raise the adult social care eligibility criteria threshold |
We currently set eleigibility criteria at “high” and “emergency/urgent”. We propose raising the criteria to “ emergency/urgent” only, meaning social care support is only provided where there is an immediate risk of harm. |
|
Reduce support to unpaid carers |
Reduce support where there is already substantial support in place. |
|
Review and redesign learning disability supported living placements |
Those with supported living placements will be reviews and some moved to more suitable placement to meet assessed need. |
|
Leave Middlefield Hub |
We have ACHSCP services in Middlefield Hub but only use 40% of space available. Services will be relocated to maximise budgets for frontline services, not premises costs. |
|
Leave Foresterhill Health Centre |
We only use 65% of the space available and could relocate services to maxmise budget for frontline services, not premises costs. Elmbank Group Practice, Westburn Medical Group and Boots Pharmacy will remain at Foresterhill. |
|
Reduce telephone response to non-emergency service receptions |
We will reduce receptionist posts by not filling some vacancies as they arise and provide less daily telephone cover for non-emergencies. |
|
Cease the Carers Strategy Improvement Fund |
Remove funding for the Unpaid Carers Strategy Improvement Fund which trails innovative alternatives to mainstream support and are tailored to individual need. |
|
Cease the Health Improvement Fund |
Remove the funding for community-led health improvement activity. |
