Adult Social Care and Health Select Committee Minutes

Date:
Tuesday, 20th October, 2020
Time:
4.00pm
Place:
Remote meeting via Microsoft Teams
 
Please note: all Minutes are subject to approval at the next Meeting

Attendance Details

Present:
Cllr Evaline Cunningham(Chairman), Cllr Clare Gamble, Cllr Jacky Bright, Cllr Kevin Faulks, Cllr Luke Frost, Cllr Lynn Hall, Cllr Mohammed Javed, Cllr Paul Weston,
Officers:
Ann Workman, Emma Champley, Gavin Swankie, Rob Papworth, Catherine Buller, Julie Nisbet (A&H); Jane Edmends (FD&BS); Gareth Aungiers (Xentrall); Sarah Whaley, Gary Woods (MD)
In Attendance:
Angela Blythe (Allison House); Diane Hawkes (Oak Road)
Apologies for absence:
Cllr Bill Woodhead MBE
Item Description Decision
Public
ASH
20/20		 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Preamble
 
ASH
21/20		 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 3 SEPTEMBER 2020 AND 15 SEPTEMBER 2020.
Preamble
AGREED that the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
ASH
22/20		 HEALTHWATCH STOCKTON-ON-TEES - LIVING WITH COVID-19 (PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT - APRIL TO JUNE 2020)
Preamble
AGREED that:

1. the presentation of the Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees Living with Covid-19 (Public Engagement - April - June 2020) report be deferred until the Committee meeting on the 17th November 2020;

2. an additional request for feedback on the contents of the Living with Covid-19 (Public Engagement - April - June 2020) report be sought from Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees.
ASH
23/20		 MONITORING THE IMPACT OF PREVIOUSLY AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS
Preamble
AGREED that the progress update be noted and the assessments for progress be confirmed.
ASH
24/20		 WELL-LED PROGRAMME - UPDATE
Preamble
AGREED that the Well Led programme update be noted, and that subsequent requests for related information be provided.
ASH
25/20		 WORK PROGRAMME 2020-2021
Preamble
AGREED that the Adult Social Care and Health Select Committee Work Programme 2020-2021 be noted.
ASH
26/20		 CHAIR'S UPDATE
Preamble
 

Preamble

ItemPreamble
ASH
20/20		There were no declarations of interest.
ASH
21/20		Consideration was given to the minutes from the Committee meetings held on the 3rd September 2020 and the 15th September 2020.
ASH
22/20		Due to technical difficulties, the Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees representative who was due to present the findings from their recently published Living with Covid-19 (Public Engagement - April - June 2020) report was unable to attend this meeting. As such, it was agreed to defer this item to the Committee meeting on the 17th November 2020.

Members requested that, in addition to the presentation of the report in November 2020, further information be sought from Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees (to be shared at the November meeting) on the following:

•Any feedback from Trust maternity services regarding current levels of contact between health professionals and expecting / new parents? Any issues raised around this?

•Any feedback from Pharmacies regarding collection / delivery updates heading into a second surge, and any data around how many people have changed their pharmacy over the last six months due to issues with collection / delivery?

It was also suggested that the issue of respite provision since the emergence of COVID-19 was something the Council could provide a response to.
ASH
23/20		Consideration was given to the assessments of progress on the implementation of the recommendations from the Scrutiny Review of Temporary Accommodation for Homeless Households. This was the first update (delayed due to COVID-19) provided to the Committee following its approval of the Action Plan in June 2019, and Members were informed that three of the five actions in relation to the review’s agreed recommendations were now fully achieved. The new SBC Homelessness Reduction and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2020-2025 was also provided for information.

Members commended the work of the Council’s Homelessness and Housing Solutions Service and were pleased to read of the recognition received from the regional Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Lead for Homelessness on the format and self-help information available on the Council website, alongside sharing of good practice (noted in the new strategy).

With reference to recommendation 4 (That the Council continues to develop detailed understanding of those who are ‘hardest to house’ and the barriers to accessing (and maintaining) accommodation, and explore new forms of appropriate housing options for this client group), the Committee asked if a future update would be provided since this action was not achieved. The Council representative confirmed that a further update would be given, and that it was important to evidence the impact of the two new roles to support those who are hardest to house (Rough Sleeper Navigator and Tenancy Sustainment Officer). It was also noted that COVID-19 had made engagement with individuals more challenging due to social distancing requirements, though Officers’ roles had been appropriately risk assessed.

Members felt the new strategy was well put together and welcomed the inclusion of specific local factors around this issue. In response to a question around the Council’s capacity to meet current and projected future demand, the Committee was informed that the service was fully staffed and was presently operating in a different (though effective) way due to the ongoing pandemic. However, there were challenges around ever-changing national COVID-19 guidance, and the private rental end-of-eviction moratorium issue will likely have a significant effect on key stakeholders.

The impact of Thirteen Housing Group pulling out of the Compass Choice Based Lettings (CBL) scheme was queried. Members were assured that the Council still regularly engages with Thirteen who remain in a transition period following their decision to exit the scheme, and who have allocated a percentage of their housing stock as part of an agreed Nomination Agreement. Both organisations recognise that they need each other to resolve housing issues across the Borough.
ASH
24/20		The Committee received a presentation on the Council’s Well Led programme which provided an update on developments around this leadership programme for the Borough’s Registered Care Home Managers. The presentation reminded Members of what Well Led was, why it was introduced, how it operates, who it involves, and the impact it has had.

Council Officers were joined by two of the Registered Care Home Managers who had been part of the programme to reflect on their experiences and the benefits it had brought them following their involvement. Subsequent comments on the programme were noted as follows:

•Programme has included a new element around resilience - particularly pertinent given the current COVID-19 climate.

•The next cohort has been widened to include professionals supporting people with a learning disability and home care providers.

•Care Home Managers reported the feeling of isolation before starting the programme, with little or no relationship with other local Managers - the programme has helped recognise that they are not on their own and enables them to share, and learn from, the experiences of others.

•Managers now have conversations with each other that would not have happened previously, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has commended this working-together approach.

•Have adapted to the pandemic - Microsoft Teams meetings initiated which Care Homes are finding beneficial, and the Leadership and Peer Support Network is still operating well.

The Committee commended all those involved in the Well Led programme (in particular the peer support network as it was acknowledged that it is no easy task getting so many independent care homes together), and was reassured that this existed before the emergence of COVID-19 as recent events must have made Care Home Managers feel in a very difficult, and even lonely, place during the initial stages back in March / April 2020.

Care Home Managers reported that they felt very safe talking to peers in the support network and could express their views openly and with confidence. They have a real understanding of each other and feel able to raise any matter they wish. Council Officers noted that the network meetings were paused during the initial phase of COVID-19, but that Care Home Managers themselves asked for them to be resumed so they could share experiences and best practice. The Committee agreed that it was vital for Managers to have such support as the nation heads into a second wave of COVID-19.

Members requested further information on the following:

•Confirmation of the number of places for the next intake (Cohort 3) that are being used for home care providers.

•Comparison of CQC ‘Well Led’ domain ratings for local care homes between 2018 and now (showing impact of the Well Led programme).

•Had the Well Led programme impacted on manager retention?
ASH
25/20		Consideration was given to the Committee’s current Work Programme. Members were reminded that an additional Committee meeting had been scheduled for the 5th November 2020 (3.00pm) to allow for the consideration and agreement of the Hospital Discharge (Phase 1) review final report (thus enabling it to be taken to Cabinet in November 2020 rather than December 2020 as originally intended).
ASH
26/20		The Chair had no further updates to report.

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