Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 24 November and 13 December 2016.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

(i)         The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 November 2016 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

(ii)        The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 December 2016 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

Matters arising:

In response to a request from the Chair the Senior Manager Integrated

Services gave an update on the progress of the Single Point of Access.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

That the draft North Wales Population Needs Assessment be noted.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced a report to provide a summary of the outcomes of the population needs assessment for Flintshire.  He gave background information and context and introduced Christy Hoskings, Planning and Development Officer, Social Services, and invited her to present the report. 

                        The Planning and Development Officer explained that the aim of the Populations Needs Assessment was to provide an evidence base which identifies some of the key care and support needs for people in North Wales and improve understanding of the current and future population.   She said the Assessment would be a valuable source of information for local authorities and their partners and would enable them to inform future partnership arrangements, commissioning strategies and develop services. 

The Planning and Development Officer advised that the Assessment is a requirement of the Social Services and Wellbeing Act 2014 which places a duty on the 6 North Wales Councils and Health Board to jointly assess the needs of the population and the services required to support those needs.  She explained that the Assessment covered the following themes:

·         Children and Young People

·         Older People

·         Health/Physical Disability

·         Learning Disability and Autism

·         Mental Health

·         Sensory Impairment

·         Carers

·         Violence against Women, domestic abuse and sexual violence

The Planning and Development Officer explained that North Wales had also chosen to highlight the following further themes :

·         Substance misuse

·         Homelessness

·         Veterans

·         People in the secure estate

The Planning and Development Officer gave an overview of the findings for each of the themes above and what actions had been recommended for North Wales Counties moving forward.  She reported that the Assessment must be published by 1 April 2017 and would be reviewed by April 2019.  Following completion of the assessment local authorities and the Health Board are required to design area plans based on the findings in the population needs assessment.  The plans will outline how each County will meet the needs of its population and what areas will have joint initiatives with Health and what areas will have regional initiatives to cover need. 

The Chair thanked the Planning and Development Officer for her detailed presentation. 

                        In response to a query raised by Councillor David Wisinger concerning the direct payments scheme for care, Officers gave an assurance that the care needs of any individual would always be met regardless of the circumstances around  payment of carers.

Councillor Cindy Hinds expressed a concern around the ‘top-up’ fees charged in some private care homes.   Officers acknowledged that this practice caused financial strain on residents and their families and advised that in such circumstances negotiations would take place with the owner of the care home to either reduce or take away the charge as appropriate. Cllr Hilary McGuill requested a list of the homes that currently charged ‘top-up’ fees.

The Chair referred to page 404 of the report and asked how the need to provide a further 178 care home placements (based on projected need) by 2020 would be addressed.  The Senior Manager Integrated Services referred to the extra-care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

That the Committee welcomed the progress made on Delayed Transfers of

Care and how it is monitored and managed each month, and noted that the

Health statistics were not included in this.  

The Senior Manager Integrated Services introduced a report on the role and function of the Delayed transfer of Care process.  She explained that the structure of hospital based social work and its collaboration with health colleagues was also outlined and that the report focused on the patient flow through the discharge process and explained why delays occurred. 

The Senior Manager Integrated Services introduced Janet Bellis, Service Manager - First Contact and Locality Services, and invited her to present the report.   The Service Manager, explained what delayed transfer of care means and that the definition of a delay was a patient who continued to occupy a hospital. bed after his or her ‘ready to transfer of care date’.  This date is determined by the clinical responsible for inpatient care, in consultation with colleagues in the hospital multi-disciplinary discharge team.  The Service Manager advised that Flintshire had 29 cases of Delayed Transfer of Care in the past year and reported on the discharge process and brokerage process as detailed in the report.

During discussion Officers responded to the questions and comments raised by Members around the reasons for the delay, and the support provided to people with continuing health needs who are not in hospital. 

Councillor Cindy Hinds expressed concerns around the time patients had to wait in the discharge lounge in hospital.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee welcomed the progress made on Delayed Transfers of

Care and how it is monitored and managed each month, and noted that the

Health statistics were not included in this.  

Purpose: To receive a verbal report from Members of the Committee.

Councillor Hilary McGuill reported on her visit to Rowley’s Pantry.  She said the visit had been positive but some staff had expressed concerns around job security due to the proposed move to an alternative delivery model.  She also referred to the corporate procurement policy and expressed concerns around the cost of obtaining supplies through the procurement system. 

In response to the matters raised the Senior Manager Integrated Services reported on the extensive consultation and robust feasibility study which had taken place with service users and their families to address any concerns they had around the proposals for an alternative delivery model.  She said no financial decisions had been made yet and gave an assurance that the needs of individuals were a priority and would be protected going forward.  

The Chair suggested that the concerns raised by Councillor McGuill around the corporate procurement system be referred to the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee for consideration.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be agreed subject to the above amendments;

(b)       That the draft Social Services Annual Report be circulated to the Committee by 13^th February 2017 prior to the final Report being submitted to Cabinet.  

The Social & Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator presented  the current Forward Work Programme for consideration and referred to the items scheduled for the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 2 March  2017.  She referred to the workshop to be held following the meeting to consider the Social Services Annual Report and said it was that the draft Report be circulated to the Committee instead, with time for comments to be made and discussion to take place prior to the final Report being submitted to Cabinet.   The Facilitator said it was also proposed that the meeting of the Committee which was scheduled to be held on 6 April 2017 be cancelled and the items moved to a future meeting.  At the request of Cllr Hilary McGuill, the Chief officer agreed that the progress report on Double Click should be considered at the March meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be agreed subject to the above amendments;

(b)       That the draft Social Services Annual Report be circulated to the Committee by 13^th February 2017 prior to the final Report being submitted to Cabinet.  

            There were no  members of the press or the public in attendance.