Agenda item

To consider the parts of the Quarter 1 2016/17 (January to March) quarterly service report of the Adult Social Care, Health and Housing department relating to health.

The Panel considered the Quarterly Service Report (QSR) of the Director of Adult Social Care, Health & Housing covering the period January to March 2016 in relation to those matters concerning health. 

The Director highlighted a number of points from the report.  The final assurance rating for the Bracknell Forest 2016 Better Care Fund (BCF) submission had now been confirmed as “Assured” by NHS England.  There was now a stable, multi-skilled team in place at Bracknell Urgent Care Centre which would assist with the continuation of improvements to safety, clinical care and the installation of a learning and development culture.  The plan to re-commission the Drugs Alcohol Action team services had been approved and various options were under consideration, given the limited number of providers in the field.  A boost in the amount of accommodation available as temporary homes for homeless households had been given by the acquisition of further properties by both the Council and Downshire Homes Ltd.  Work was continuing on the identification of savings from existing adult social care packages but this represented a considerable challenge.  Progress was being made against two key indicators showing red in the QSR, namely L178 (number of household nights in non self-contained accommodation) and L179 (percentage of homeless or potentially homeless customers who the Council keep in their home or find another one) which should result in an improvement in the next report.  There was an increased risk to the Council arising from provider failure from care home operators which had been exacerbated by the declining financial viability of homes and the possibility of adverse CQC inspections.

The Director indicated her intention to improve the format of performance reporting to adopt a “dashboard” style of presentation, which should enable the Panel to obtain a more up to date and timely appreciation of progress and performance.  The Director went on to present to the Panel her vision for the future of Adult Social Care, Health and Housing Services.  A radical approach to system transformation was required in order to achieve the scale of Adult Social Care savings and the sustainability of Health and Care services.  While integration with health was key, the future sustainability of the system of care was dependent on people and their carers, families, networks, being properly equipped and supported to arrange and manage more of their care with less reliance on direct support from the Council.

Having heard details of the aims of the transformation and the operational changes that would be involved in delivering it, the Panel raised a number of questions from which following was noted:

• Individual care support planning and regular reviews would ensure that care was being provided in the right place at the right level.
• Moving to a framework of six preferred domiciliary care providers would enable the Council to drive up standards and the quality of care, and bring about better training for care staff coupled with a broadening of their role and the creation of career paths.

• The proposed model of two Integrated Care and Health Service hubs for Bracknell – probably one in central Bracknell and one in the south of the Borough - was envisaged as the best way to combine a Wellbeing and Independence network (Council co-ordinated), a Personal Support network (Voluntary sector co-ordinated) and Health and Care network (Health co-ordinated) for each individual.
• An explanation would be provided for the staffing table in the QSR, which appeared to be arithmetically incorrect.

Measures such as proper workload management, careful sickness monitoring and concern and care in the avoidance of stress all served to help maintain a dedicated, motivated and well-trained staff.