Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Rachel Wilson  Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

25.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors B Adams and M A Whittington.

26.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made at this point in the meeting.

27.

Minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2020 pdf icon PDF 248 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 21 October 2020 be agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to Councillor R L Foulkes being recorded as having submitted his apologies.

28.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor and Lead Officers

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE, Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services to update the Committee on any issues.  The Committee was advised that services during lockdown were being maintained and that particular emphasis was being made to ensure that the Occupational Therapy service continued, as adaptations were very important for those returning home.

 

The Committee also noted that home care workers would be tested for Covid-19, alongside residential care workers.

 

The Chairman advised that he had been consulted regarding a Rule 17 urgent decision for the direct procurement of urgent beds to enable the safe discharge from hospitals, without placing patients who could be Covid-19 positive in standard care home beds, which had been taken by Councillor M J Hill OBE, Leader of the Council on 19 November 2020.

 

The Committee was advised further that the urgent decision had allowed the procurement of 60 additional beds at three care homes, which would help reduce the spread of Covid-19 for those patients being discharged from hospitals to standard care home beds.

 

Thanks were extended to all staff in Adult Care and Community Wellbeing for their hard work maintaining services throughout the duration of the pandemic.

29.

In-House Day Services pdf icon PDF 307 KB

(To receive a report by Justin Hackney, Assistant Director, Specialist Adult Services, which provides an update to the Committee in relation to In-House Day Services)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Justin Hackney, Assistant Director of Specialist Services and John Waters, Day Opportunities Manager, to present the item, which provided the Committee with an update on in-house day services.  Appendix A to the report provided a draft action plan which set out the direction of travel for in-house day services.  Appendix B provided information as to the Day Service activities that had taken place during the pandemic.

 

The Committee received a presentation entitled Day Service 2020 – Connecting, Contributing, Community, which highlighted that the service had been working hard to ensure that every person the service worked with had a unique support plan which brought out their skills and abilities and provided for them to grow and thrive as active members of the local community; that links had been established with a local university to improve the offer available for those with more profound needs; and that work had started with the local college and community pay back team to make meeting spaces better, and to be shared with the local community.

 

It was also noted that the in-house day service had been involved in the following: a Community Clear up Day; working with the Countryside Access Team to plant trees to make a community woodland and nature reserve on the site of a landfill site; gathering surplus apples and distributing them to people in the local community; and spreading happiness in the local community by sharing flowers grown at one of the centres. The video highlighted how important links to the local community were for those people attending the in-house day service and also the benefits gained for residents in the local community.  

 

In conclusion, the Committee was advised that looking ahead, it was proposed to strengthen based practice across the day service, which would enabled services to be personalised, building on what people can do for themselves, and helping them develop further to have independence and a sense of wellbeing.  Page 37 of the report provided a list of all the improvements day service would be looking to make going forward.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

 

·       The Committee extended their thanks to officers for the report and for their proactive responses to the needs of users for in-house day services;

·       Some concern was expressed concerning transport provision.  The Committee was advised that Day Services Teams were working with the Council's Transport Services to review the opportunities for capital investment that could enhance existing arrangements.  A suggestion was also made for the service to contact villages/towns who operated a community mini bus service;

·       Whether long term capacity would be an issue.  It was highlighted that there was capacity to fulfil need and that the service wanted to expand its offer more to provide activities within the local community, as mentioned in the earlier presentation and in Appendix B of the report.  The principle was to make the in-house day service more sustainable for the future;

·       Community Engagement – Pages 25 and 26 of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

30.

Transforming Care pdf icon PDF 407 KB

(To receive a report by Justin Hackney, Assistant Director Specialist Adult Services, which provides the Committee with an update on the Lincolnshire Transforming Care agenda)

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Justin Hackney, Assistant Director of Specialist Services, to present an update on the Lincolnshire Transforming Care agenda.

 

The Committee was advised that the transforming care agenda had emerged as a national response to the Winterbourne View Hospital report, concerning the abuse of adults with a learning disability which had been published in December 2012.

 

It was highlighted that in Lincolnshire, a Lincolnshire Transforming Care Board had been established to ensure that the Lincolnshire Transforming Care Partnership worked together to develop and implement the Transformation Plan in line with the national service model. 

 

It was highlighted further that at the onset of the Transforming Care agenda, Lincolnshire had been recognised as one of the systems leading the way.  An example was the reinvestment of the funding for the former Long Leys Court into an alternative NHS specialist community services for adults with a learning disability and or autism, which had avoided future in-patient admissions.  The Committee was advised that Long Leys Court had been a specialist in-patient facility for adults with a learning disability and challenging behaviours and had been provided by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT). 

 

It was noted that during 2019/20 there had been a noticeable change in the number of transforming care new admissions and that these new admissions had care needs that represented significant challenges for commissioners, as there was a deficit in the support required to meet the complex needs of these people.

 

It was noted further that Lincolnshire had continued to be successful in facilitating a number of longer stay Transforming Care in-patient discharges.  The care for these people post-discharge had been provided by residential or alternative community based services.  It was highlighted that for the 2019/20 financial year there had been six long term Transforming Care in-patient placements that were either fully or partly funded by the Council.  Full details relating to the current position in Lincolnshire was shown on pages 41 and 42 of the report pack.

 

The Committee noted that to improve performance, governance arrangements for the Lincolnshire Transforming Care Partnership had been strengthened, and at the request of the Executive Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing and the Chief Executive of NHS Lincolnshire there was to be a review of existing lead commissioning arrangements for adults with a learning disability, autism and/or a mental illness with a view to identifying which commissioning agency would be best placed to lead on the commissioning of care and support for people with different levels of need and dependency.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

·       A question was asked as to where patients who had a Ministry of Justice Section status were looked after. The Committee was advised that most were looked after out of county.  It was noted that it was planned to reduce out of  area provision and have patients ideally closer to home;

·       Independent housing provision – The Committee was advised that provisions were in place to enable more integrated arrangements to be in place,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

31.

Service Level Performance Against the Corporate Performance Framework - Quarters 1 and 2 pdf icon PDF 366 KB

(To receive a report by Caroline Jackson, Head of Corporate Performance, which summarises the Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Service Level Performance for Quarters 1 and 2 for the measures which are above or below the target range)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman advised that this report summarised the performance of the Tier 2 Service Level Performance measures for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing for Quarters 1 and 2.

 

The Chairman invited Caroline Jackson, Head of Corporate Performance, to present the item to the Committee.

 

The Committee was advised that there were 18 measures in Tier 2, however, due to Covid-19, reports were not available for two measures, and these were:

 

·       Carers supported in the last 12 months; and

·       Carers who have received a review of their needs.

 

For the remaining 16 measures for Quarter 1, eight had achieved their target; four had exceeded their target; three had not achieved their target; and one measure had improved, but had not achieved its target.

 

For Quarter 2, it was reported 11 measures were on target; three measures had exceeded their targets; and two had not achieved their target.

 

Page 46 of the report provided an explanation as to why some measures had exceeded or not achieved their targets during Quarters 1 and 2.

 

Appendix A to the report provided the Committee with a Performance Measure Summary.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

 

·       The measure not achieved in Quarters 1 and 2 relating to: Adults aged 18-64 with a mental health problem living independently.  The Committee was assured that the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) continued to ensure that individuals were supported both for their social care under a Section 75 agreement and for their NHS care, in addition to being on Care Programme Approach, individuals were in accommodation settings to ensure their safety and wellbeing;

·       People supported to successfully quit smoking – Some concern was expressed as to why the measure had not been achieved.  The Committee noted that One You Lincolnshire (OYL) had achieved 56% of the target during the lockdown period.  As a result of the Covid-19 lockdown, OYL had ceased face to face working and had lost the additional capacity from sub-contractors for smoking cessation (General Practitioners and Community Pharmacies), due to the vast reduction in customers levels coming through the sub-contractor route.  It was highlighted that sub-contractors would have normally provided 40% of the service.  It was highlighted that OYL had moved to telephone and digital support solely for smoking cessation in order to maintain a programme; and

·       Adult Safeguarding concerns that lead to a Safeguarding enquiry in Quarter 1.  It was highlighted that the number was likely to be higher in quarter one as this was prior to lockdown measures.  During lockdown, some people may have stayed with friends and relatives.  It was noted that referrals had returned to back to normal historical levels.

 

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee extended thanks to officer for their update.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the performance of the Tier 2 Service Level Performance Measures for Quarters 1 and 2 be noted.

32.

Covid-19 Update

(To receive a verbal update from Derek Ward, Director of Public Health, which updates the Committee on the latest position with Covid-19)

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Derek Ward, Director of Public Health to update the Committee on the latest position regarding Covid-19.

 

The Committee noted that Lincolnshire had seen prior to the start, and during the first two weeks of the lockdown, which had begun on 5 November 2020, an increase in the rate of infection, particularly in the East Lindsey and Boston areas; and that this had resulted in outbreak management being applied for both districts to target specific areas.

 

It was reported that during the previous ten days there had been a reduction in the rate of infection across the whole of the county.  The Committee was advised that the infection rate for Lincolnshire overall was now at 240 per 100,000 population, compared to the England rate of 230 per 100,000 population.  The Committee noted further that the rate for East Lindsey had dropped from 420 to 330 (as at 24 November 2020).  It was also highlighted that the rate for Boston had also reduced, as had the infection rate for those aged over 60.

 

The Committee was advised that in Lincolnshire, around 25,000 tests for Covid-19 were being completed every day; and that this figure had been maintained for a number of weeks, which contributed to the knowledge on the spread of Covid-19.

 

It was reported that the Covid-19 Winter Plan published by the Government on 23 November 2020 set out arrangements for managing the virus from 2 December 2020, when the national lockdown would be lifted.  The Plan also provided details of the revised tiering system and the steps that needed to be taken to help get the country back to some normality.  The Committee was advised that the Government's strategy had three objectives:

 

·Bringing the R below 1 and keeping it there on a sustained basis.  (It was noted that once a vaccine had been approved by the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the vaccination programme, would be implemented; that more testing would be done and that more investment would be made into further treatment for Covid-19);

·Finding new and more effective ways of managing and enabling life to return closer to normal; and

·   Minimising damage to the economy and society, jobs and livelihoods. Education to be safeguarded in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

 

·     The effect of neighbouring areas on Lincolnshire's infection rate figures.  The Committee noted that this was a contributory factor in the East Lindsey area, as residents were travelling in and out of the county for work.  It was highlighted that the advice in the Covid-19 Winter Plan was to encourage people to work from home wherever possible;

·     Whether a case had been made to the government for the need for local control, particularly in Lincolnshire.  The Committee was advised that representation had been made for Lincolnshire and that the outcome would be known more when the government announced its allocation of tiers to particular areas;

·     Testing – The Committee was advised that people were coming  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 1 MB

(To receive a report by Simon Evans, Health Scrutiny Officer, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider its future work programme)

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Simon Evans, Health Scrutiny Officer to present the item to the Committee.

 

The Committee gave consideration to their work programme up to 14 April 2021.

 

The Committee were invited to email the Health Scrutiny Officer and the Chairman with any further suggested items, following the meeting.  Any items received would then be considered at the next scheduled agenda planning meeting.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the work programme presented be received.  

 

 
 
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