Agenda item

Lincolnshire County Council Adult Care Winter Plan

(To receive a report by Tracy Perrett, County Manager Special Projects and Hospital Services, which provides the Committee with the opportunity to consider the proposed approach to winter pressures developed in consultation and partnership with colleagues and organisations from across the health and care system)

Minutes:

It was reported that Lincolnshire County Council worked with colleagues from across the health and care system throughout the year to ensure the flow of people through the hospitals and community was maintained.  The pressure on the system over the winter period would very often increase and as a result additional focus was placed on increasing support over this period.  Winter monies and additional funding were normally made available via the Department of Health and Social Care which were targeted towards supporting the system during this period.  During the coming year, in consultation and partnership with colleagues and organisations from across the health and care system, the Council would further explore, support and deliver:

·         A rapid response service to support admission avoidance and timely discharge from hospital;

·         Implement specific support for care homes, including the deployment of telemedicine and direct access to other urgent care services via clinical assessment.

·         The County Council would work with the reablement and home care providers to increase capacity across the County in line with demand.

 

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was noted that this was the Lincolnshire County Council part of a wider plan.

·         It was felt that Lincolnshire had been quite proactive in terms of adult care for the last couple of years.

·         A lot of work was being undertaken around hubs at acute sites, in Lincoln, Boston and Peterborough as well as Scunthorpe and Grimsby.  It was also noted that there were staff at Lincoln who were dedicated to Northern Lincolnshire and Goole acute hospital sites.

·         It was commented that it looked like a good plan was in place, and that it could get representatives from different organisations around the table was also positive

·         When discharging from hospital, it was queried whether there was confidence that the system would have capacity, and members were assured that staff would ensure that the necessary services were available to ensure a smooth transition.

·         It was acknowledged that there were added pressures from winter weather, but it was queried whether there had been any added pressure on health care due to the warm summer.  Members were advised that there had been spikes, but there was the capacity to maintain the service as staff were able to draw on existing capacity from other areas of the organisation.

·         It was highlighted that joint delays had increased from May to June 2018 and it was noted that this was due to some preliminary referrals, and it was possible that some patients were being referred too early, and this was something that officers were conscious of.  A lot of hard work went into keeping the number of delays as low as possible, and work was underway to resolve the current issue.

·         Members were advised that it was not always in a person's best interest to go into a residential home after leaving hospital as there was a risk they may not get back to their own home.  Therefore, it would sometimes take a little longer to ensure the right care package was set up for a person when they left hospital so they could go back to their own home.

·         The Commercial Team worked very hard to get care packages in place and increase capacity, and interim beds could be offered, but a person did not have to accept this.  Officers agreed to add in some narrative around this in future in relation to delayed transfers of care.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the Committee supported the proposed approach to winter pressures as set out in the report.

Supporting documents:

 

 
 
dot

Original Text: