Wiltshire Council Reablement Service celebrates fifth anniversary

On Monday, May 22, the Wiltshire Council Reablement Service celebrated its fifth anniversary with a cake. 

Reablement is a short-term intensive support service provided by social care staff, including occupational therapists and reablement workers, who work with adults in their own homes to enable them to do things themselves and relearn skills they may have lost.

The service is available to adults who normally live independently at home, but who might have lost physical ability or confidence in carrying out their day-to-day living tasks.

In the first year, reablement had 1,000 referrals – this has now more than tripled with 3,340 referrals in the last year.

When the service launched in 2018 it started with just 24 therapy staff and eight reablement provider staff, but this has since grown to 51 therapy staff and 130 reablement provider staff.

Cllr Jane Davies, cabinet member for adult social care said: "I’m really proud that our reablement team has achieved some incredible results, and in the last year, 78 per cent of people were still in their home three months after having had reablement support, showing the great long-term results for the people they work with.

"Our reablement service has also retained its Good CQC rating in April 2023, and it’s a testament to our incredible and dedicated staff who continue to provide this empowering support.

"The team continues to grow and we want to offer the service to even more people – so we are always looking for more staff to join us.

"I’d encourage anyone interested to contact our recruitment team and help to be a part of this inspirational service."

Information about the adult care process in Wiltshire and the services available to help people remain independent can be found at adults.wiltshire.gov.uk/.

For more information about the roles available and job opportunities within the reablement team, email recruitment@wiltshire.gov.uk or visit jobs.wiltshire.gov.uk/adult-social-care.