Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J R Marriott and Mrs H N J Powell.

The Chief Executive reported that having received a notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, he had appointed Councillor S L W Palmer as a replacement member of the Committee in place of Councillor Mrs H N J Powell for this meeting only.

No interests were declared.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2016 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Visit to the Carers' Team

The Chairman thanked Councillors Helen Powell and Jane Smith for joining him for the visit to the Carers' Team at the Customer Service Centre.  It provided an insight into the volume of Adult Care and Carers' calls received at the CSC and their outcomes. 

Looking at services from a customer perspective would be helpful for the newly formed Committee after next year's election.

Carers FIRST Leaflets

Following the last Committee meeting, information leaflets from Carers' FIRST had been made available for Committee members to collect and pass on to any of their constituents who might need them. 

Copies of the leaflets were still available from the Health Scrutiny Officer. 

Delayed Transfers of Care Working Group

The Chairman confirmed that the Health Scrutiny Committee had established a working group to consider delayed transfers of care and had invited members of the Adults Scrutiny Committee to participate.  Councillors S R Dodds, R C Kirk, C E H Marfleet, M A Whittington and Mrs S M Wray volunteered to join the group, who together with the four members of the Health Scrutiny Committee would lead to a working group of nine Councillors.  The Committee noted that consideration of delayed transfers of care would be an extensive piece of work. 

(To receive a report from Marie Kaempfe-Rice, Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer, which updates the Committee on progress made with regard to the Lincolnshire Sensory Services)

At its meeting on 9 September 2015, the Committee supported recommendations to re-procure the Lincolnshire Sensory Service; a decision which was subsequently approved by the Executive Councillor on 14 September 2015.  The Committee had requested that when the service had been in operation a reasonable amount of time, the provider would be invited to give the Committee a progress update. Members of the Lincolnshire Sensory Service team were present to provide that update.

The Committee received a presentation from Jayne Oakes, Service Manager – Action on Hearing Loss and the following points were noted:

·         The service had started on 1 April 2016 and supported both adults and children with both cognitive and acquired impairments.  The service supported all ages from newborn and the current age range of service users was 3 months to 101 years old.  A staff team of 18 delivered the service, one third of which had a sensory impairment themselves;

·         The service was available county-wide from offices based in Louth, Boston and Lincoln;

·         The Committee considered the performance through the service's KPIs.  It was noted that these numbers did not take into account 190 cases inherited from the previous provider.  This backlog had now been cleared and performance should be on target for next quarter;

·         Both indoor and outdoor mobility equipment and the relevant training was available to service users.  On occasion this included negotiating help through a service user's community to ensure they were safe when outside the home.  To illustrate this, Officers explained there were five different types of pedestrian road crossings and those with a sensory impairment had to remember each type and its rules;

·         The Committee received a demonstration of various different pieces of equipment designed to help people with a sensory impairment.

In answer to questions from Members, the following was confirmed:

·         The Service could help users to access the criminal justice system if required, as well as register people with a sensory impairment with the Police to ensure they could provide the best help in the event of an emergency call;

·         Providing sensory support services was a statutory requirement.  The contract was for three years and cost approximately £600,000 a year.  Without the contract, the Council would struggle to provide the same level of service;

·         Drop-in sessions, arranged in various places around the county in community buildings had been set up.  This was in addition to 32 sites around the county, as detailed within Action on Hearing Loss' original bid;

·         The contract required the service to build a team of 50 volunteers; there were currently eight.  All volunteers were DBS checked and recruited through Action on Hearing Loss, however the organisation was also growing its own volunteers from within;

·         A Strategic Partnership Board was being set up to involve all relevant stakeholders, including Planning services.  This would provide an opportunity to raise awareness of sensory impairments within planning schemes.  The service could also raise awareness of elections and public consultations among people with a sensory impairment;

·         The Wellbeing Service and TeleCare  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

(To receive a report from Emma Scarth, County Manager for Performance, Quality and Development, which provides the Scrutiny Committee with a summary of the Adult Care Performance Council Business Plan measures within the four Commissioning Strategies for Quarter 2 of 2016/17. And for the Committee to also receive an update on the progress of the Better Care Fund with reference to Health and Social Care metrics)

The Committee considered a report which provided an update on 2016/17 Quarter Two performance of the Adult Care Council Business Plan measures.

Officers provided a demonstration of the performance information through the website portal of the Lincolnshire Research Observatory and reported that in future, the use of this facility would be maximised at Committee meetings, as far as practicality would allow.

During the presentation and discussion of the information, the following points were noted:

·         A survey was currently being undertaken by carers and once their responses had been returned and the information processed, the results would be reported to Committee;

·         The target Carers supported in the last 12 months had not been achieved.  The organisation Carers First was raising awareness for carers and growth had been achieved as a result of this work, however it was likely the numbers would fall short of the target before the year end;

·         Adult Frailty and Long Term Conditions Admissions to Residential Care had not been met.  Over 90% of admissions were people who had been in short term care and 16% of people admitted had recently been in hospital.  This target included self-funders in care who had run out of money and approached the authority for help.  This target had been driven by the Better Care Fund and during the next financial year, more realistic targets would be set.  There was a statutory duty to provide residential care for people who needed it.  The Council could offer help to self-funders to assist them in choosing their care home, if their capital was likely to run out during their time in care.  However, the authority's priority was to prevent people going into care and keeping in them in their own homes through a range of different homecare services.

Questions from members of the Committee confirmed the following from Officers:

·         The target Adults who have received a review of their needs (Learning Disability or Mental Health) had not been achieved over the quarter, however, it was likely it would be met by the end of the year.  In order to improve performance, the authority was trying to improve the way reviews were carried out;

·         There was discussion regarding delayed transfers of care and it was reported that the situation was better now than it had been in the previous year;

·         Issues were raised regarding the Better Care Fund and the metrics summary showing no achievement for performance being on or ahead of target (page 67 of report).  Officers explained that the Better Care Fund was a national programme and as such, the authority was not in control of setting targets, as these were set nationally.  In addition, most local authorities had not been able to meet the targets.

RESOLVED

                   That the report and comments made be noted.

(To receive a report from Steve Houchin, Head of Finance, Adult Care, which provides the Committee with an update on the budget outturn projection for 2016/17)

Due to time constraints, Members agreed to defer this item to the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the Adult Care 2016/17 Outturn Projection be deferred to the next meeting of the Adult Scrutiny Committee.

(To receive a report from Catherine Wilman, Democratic Services Officer, which enables the Committee to have an overview of the activities of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group.  Draft Minutes from the 28 September 2016 are attached)

The Committee considered an update from the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub Group which contained the minutes from its meeting held on 28 September 2016.

The Chairman of the Sub Group reported that there had been a number of Serious Case Reviews and Domestic Homicide Reviews in recent months which had severely increased the workloads of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board and the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board.

RESOLVED

          That the update report be noted.

(To receive a report from Simon Evans, Health Scrutiny Officer, which invites the Committee to consider its work programme for the coming months)

Consideration was given to a report which gave the Committee an opportunity to review its programme of work for the coming months.

The Committee would receive a Safeguarding Adult Review Update at a future meeting.

RESOLVED

          That the Work Programme and changes made therein be noted.