Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL. View directions

Contact: Emily Wilcox  Democratic Services Officer

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Items
No. Item

66.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor E J Sneath, Councillor C Matthews and the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing.

67.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

None were declared.

68.

Minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2022 pdf icon PDF 537 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

              That the minutes of the meeting held on 23rd February 2022 be         approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

69.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor and Lead Officers

Minutes:

The Chairman reminded the Committee that a briefing session on the Community Strategy and the Voluntary Sector would take place following the meeting.

 

The pilot scheme for the recycling of community and medical equipment had commenced in March and could continue for a trial period of ten weeks at Lincoln’s recycling centre, with the potential to extend the scheme to all household waste recycling centres within the County.

 

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health was pleased to report that the De Wint Court extra care housing had been shortlisting for the Local Government Chronicle award within the housing category.

 

The Chairman had attended the opening of the extra care facilities at De Wint Court and commended the facilities. 

 

The Lincolnshire Care Awards had taken place on 24 March 2022, which celebrated the strength, pride and achievements of  Lincolnshire’s Carers. The Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health thanked all those in attendance.

70.

Lincolnshire Community Equipment Service Re-Procurement pdf icon PDF 480 KB

(To receive a report from Marie Kaempfe-Rice, Commercial & Procurement Manager, Commercial Team - People Services, which invites the Committee to consider a report on the commissioning and procurement of the Lincolnshire Community Equipment Service (LCES), which is due to be considered by the Executive on 4 May 2022.  The views of the Scrutiny Committee will be reported to the Executive, as part of its consideration of this item)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Public Health and the Senior Commercial & Procurement Officer, which invited the Committee to consider an update on the Lincolnshire Community Equipment Service (LCES) Re-procurement, which was due to be considered by the Executive on 4 May 2022.

Following a comprehensive review of the LCES including telecare, several changes had been made to the arrangements proposed as part of the new service, which was due to commence on 1 April 2023. Approval from the Executive was sought to procure a new contract for LCES including wheelchair services.

The report set out the main objectives of the LCES contract; the challenges faced in recent years and the proposed changes to current arrangements, which included broadening the scope of the service, changes to the commercial model, the introduction of a true pooled budget, changes to the contract duration, specification improvements and the separate procurement of the telecare service. Further details were set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Committee supported the proposals to the Executive and during the discussion the following points were noted

·       The Committee welcomed the separation of the telecare element; the inclusion of the wheelchair service; the continuation of the single provider model; the inclusion of sub-contract models in the procurement arrangements to ensure specialist services are maintained as well; the proposed rebate model to improve the rates of recycling of the equipment by the provider, whereby the provider would retain a percentage of the value of recycled equipment and the contract duration of potentially ten years for the community equipment contract.

·       The Committee was strongly supportive of all recycling arrangements, which currently included a scheme at the Council’s household waste and recycling centres, where equipment could be deposited and passed to the provider.

·       It was noted that seven-day working, introduced in response to the pandemic, was being monitored and could be explored as part of the new contract arrangement. Seven day working would enhance service delivery and the speed of response to people’s needs. 

·       The Committee highlighted the budget pressures, arising from demographic trends, as one of the risks. There was already a cost pressure of £1.1 million and if demand were to increase by 4% per annum, there would be increased pressure on the budget, although the proposed rebate model would mitigate some of these pressures.

·       The Committee acknowledged that due to the forecasted growth of the service and the associated potential cost pressures, a sustainable long term funding strategy would need to be developed in partnership with the NHS.  As part of the true pooled budget, equipment would no longer be attributed to either the NHS or the County Council and prescribed on the basis of need.  Thus prescriber behaviour would therefore form a key element of the joint work.

·       The catalogue of equipment was reviewed regularly to ensure the most cost effective and best range of equipment was made available.

·       Assurance was provided that many commissioners were now using a rebate model.

·       A number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

71.

Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Improvement and Development Programme - Overview pdf icon PDF 386 KB

(To receive a report from Chris Erskine, Principal Social Worker – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which introduces a presentation which provides an overview of the Improvement and Development Programme and the work undertaken and the impact to date)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation on the Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Improvement and Development Programme, which aimed to support people to stay as healthy, safe and independent and as possible at all stages of their lives.

 

The presentation provided an introduction to the programme, including the work carried out to date; the key objectives of the programme; the interventions implemented so far; the new vision and inclusive ambition for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing; the impacts made to date and a summary of the delivery of the project.

 

Consideration was given to the report and during the discussion the following points were noted:

 

  • The flexibility of the project was welcomed.
  • It was highlighted how a flexible and creative approach to intervention allowed the right resources to be put in place for each individual. 
  • The commitment of the staff team supporting the project was commended.
  • The importance of providing quality information and advice in order to provide support to individuals in a timely manner was emphasised. Officers were continuously engaging with the relevant colleagues across the Council to ensure they had adequate knowledge to support where necessary.
  • The Committee were reminded that the Council had a successful wellbeing service that could be accessed by residents.
  • The work carried out on the project to date was commended.
  • The need to ensure that the Council’s employees were recognised for their contribution and worked in a supportive environment and had access to training and a supportive environment was highlighted.
  • It was noted that the team had been shortlisted for a Municipal Journal award for service innovation. 
  • It was requested that more detail on the services provided to residents in more rural parts of the County be included in future reports to the Committee.
  • The role of early intervention was emphasised. The Committee was reassured that intensive work had been carried out which supported customer service representatives in developing their knowledge in adult care processes.
  • The Committee were pleased that people were helped to be more independent and highlighted the value of signposting to those individuals.
  • Assurance was provided that advice and support was provided to those that needed it regardless of their funding status.

 

 

RESOLVED:

 

              That the report and presentation be noted.

 

 

72.

Increasing the Capacity of the Adult Social Care Sector Workforce in Lincolnshire pdf icon PDF 386 KB

(To receive a report by Justin Hackney, Assistant Director – Specialist Services, which provides an introduction to the Adult Social Care sector workforce agenda in Lincolnshire)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a presentation by the Assistant Director – Specialist Services, which outlined plans to increase the Capacity of the Adult Social Care Sector Workforce in Lincolnshire.

 

The presentation provided details on the plans in pace to increase the adult social care workforce in Lincolnshire, including workforce strategy ‘bridging the gap’, current vacancy and turnover rates and the challenges faced in the recruitment of staff to the social care sector. The presentation also provided detail of Lincolnshire’s ‘it’s not a job’ campaign, which was designed to attract interest and action, with a clear target audience and strong messaging.

 

The Senior Project Manager, Social Change UK, made reference to the ‘it’s not a job’ campaign, which was targetting the student population, people studying for a career in social care and people who were unemployed in places with high care demand. The campaign sort to simplify the process when applying to work within the adult care centre and the need to be initiative and highlight the benefits of a career in care.

 

Consideration was given to the presentation and during the discussion the following points were noted:

 

  • It was acknowledged that levels of pay were a contributing factor in the difficulties in recruiting carers and that further funding was needed within Adult Social Care. Reassurance was provided that the Council were looking at ways in which they could support the workforce and add value to their role, which included including health and wellbeing offers and perks.
  • The benefits of social work placements being extended to care settings was highlighted.
  • The Council worked alongside the local work and skills strategy forum and the Lincolnshire Enterprise partnership to further their efforts in recruiting adult care staff.
  • The importance of retaining staff was emphasised.
  • Efforts were being made to support people to progress in residential care settings and improve the ability with integration with other roles in the NHS, including the upskilling of staff for more clinical tasks.
  • The campaign would focus on the accounts of carers across the County.
  • The Committee requested that updates be provided to Committee on a regular basis including an update on market support arrangements within Lincolnshire and the wider workforce strategy. 

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the report and presentation be noted.

 

73.

Review of Performance Measure "PI130 Adult Safeguarding concerns progressing to enquiry" pdf icon PDF 832 KB

(To receive a report by Justin Hackney, Assistant Director – Specialist Services, which provides the Committee with details of the review of performance measure PI130 - Adult Safeguarding concerns progressing to enquiry)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Assistant Director – Specialist Services and the Interim Chairman – Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board (LSAB), which provided the Committee with details of the review of performance measure PI130 - Adult Safeguarding concerns progressing to enquiry.

 

A review of a Performance Measure “PI130 Adult Safeguarding concerns that progress to enquiry” was requested by the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee following consideration of the performance measure and associated narrative at the scrutiny meeting in February 2022.

 

The review had concluded that the current performance measure did not get to the heart of where further improvement was most needed. The current definition excluded significant amounts of adult safeguarding work and potentially penalised good practice in the way it evaluated performance. It was therefore proposed that the current performance measure be removed from key indicator performance with effect from the 1 April 2022 and an action line and timeline be put in place for improvements to be made, including the creation of an alternative performance indicator.

 

Consideration was given to the report and during the discussion the following points were noted:

 

  • The importance of ensuring all Council employees had awareness of safeguarding risk was emphasised as every employee had a role to identify and report concerns both in the workplace and within communities.
  • It was important to ensure that the review with partners did not deter people from reporting possible safeguarding concerns. However, it was acknowledged that partner organisations had a statutory duty in the prevention of safeguarding and it was therefore necessary that they had a good understanding of what constituted a safeguarding concern.
  • The review had highlighted the level of risk being passed onto local authorities. An accountability framework had been created within the LSAB to work through issues and achieve more accurate recording.
  • The Committee were reassured that eth Council provided a high level of support to partner organisations in safeguarding.
  • Managers monitored all safeguarding concerns raised including where they were in the process to ensure that progress was being made where possible and that safeguarding was personal and enquiries moved at a pace that was satisfactory to individuals.
  • Assurance was provided that all concerns raised were taken with due regard and managed within the same process.
  • An alternative Performance Measure for 2022- 23 was being developed that would consider whether partners were consistently demonstrating a making safeguarding personal approach prior to raising a safeguarding concern with the local authority.
  • The Interim Chairman of the LSAB provided assurance that work had been carried out and highlighted the benefits of partnership working and embedding cultural change to ensure that safeguarding was seen as everybody’s business which was fundamental to making a difference to keep all individuals safe.
  • It was agreed that the Health Scrutiny Officer liaise with the Member Development Group to arrange a training session on safeguarding for all Councillors.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health, the following recommendations be approved:

 

74.

Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 686 KB

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

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Health Scrutiny Officer, which invited the Committee to consider the Committee’s future work programme, as set out on pages 108 – 109 of the agenda pack.

 

The Committee also welcomed the following additions to the work programme:

 

  • An update to the digital strategy and telecare
  • An update on the progress of the workforce strategy

A possible update on social care reform

 

 
 
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