Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2017 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2017 were agreed as an accurate record.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were none.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair requested that following changes to the Panel membership a Vice-Chair be appointed for the remainder of the 2017/18 municipal year.

Councillor Clouder nominated and Councillor Hopley seconded Councillor Patsy Cummings to be Vice-Chair.

Resolved:

That Councillor Patsy Cummings be Vice-Chair of the Adults Social Services Review Panel for the remainder of the 2017/18 municipal year.

The One Croydon Alliance Agreement supports the Council’s key strategic priorities with regard to promoting and sustaining independence, well-being and good health outcomes for Croydon residents.

The Panel were informed that the report on the extension of the One Croydon Alliance was taken to the Cabinet meeting on 22 January 2018 and was agreed.

The LIFE service had started in September 2017 and was supporting residents to be discharged from hospital and had been successful with 80% of reablement packages ceasing within six weeks compared to 18% previously. While the data for the winter period had not been validated yet it appeared that the figures had dropped to 50-60% due to the pressures experienced by the hospital.

. The Chair noted that the team had been visited by the National Home from Hospital and had received positive feedback in regards to the leadership and there was a recommendation for other systems to visit the LIFE service.

The Panel were informed that 6  ICNs had been rolled out and it was planned to have huddles  at all 57 GP practices by March 2018. While there had been a reduction of 14% in admissions from certain GP practices it was recognised that there was more work to be done with regards to the voluntary sector and building capacity in the community.

Officers informed the Panel that in the north of the borough there was one contractor for reablement, however it was recognised the south of the borough had separate challenges due to geography and so two providers would be procured to provide the service and to address the challenges posed by the area.

It was noted that it would be challenging to roll out across the rest of the borough within two months, however officers stated that they were now faster at implementing Huddles due to the lessons learnt from previous experiences. Each GP practice would have a Huddle and the frequency and length of a Huddle would depend upon the size and need of the practice.

Panel Members stressed that the challenges of the south of the borough were different to those experienced in the north of the borough and noted that they had not been able to feed into the procurement document to ensure that the challenges were addressed. Officers suggested that a meeting with Councillors Hopley and Bird could be arranged to discuss the commissioning in the south of the borough.

The Panel noted that a number of residents did not attend Croydon University Hospital and queried how these residents would benefit from the work being undertaken. The Director of Adult Social Care and All-Age Disability stated that she was working with her counterparts at the council’s where residents were attending hospital to ensure there was a reciprocal approach and that all residents benefited. Work would be undertaken to assist other boroughs to develop a similar service.

Panel Members further noted that there were a number of residents who would be too proud to be assessed for a level of need and queried how this would be addressed. Officers stated that assessments also took place at home and that those undertaking assessments were skilled at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/18

A Care Quality Commission report published in October 2017 found areas requiring improvement in South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s community based mental health services. This report provides a brief update on the improvement plan that has been put in place and provides assurance that services are improving for Croydon residents.

The Panel were informed that the community mental health services in Croydon provided by SLAMwere reviewed by the CQC in 2017 with the overall rating being that the service required improvement. Following the CQC findings and the Woodley Review key areas of improvement had been identified and an improvement plan developed. SLaM had identified changes that needed be made and there was a strategy to build a borough approach that would develop local service and drive improvement. Furthermore a service borough Director had been recruited and was due to start on 1 April 2018.

Officers informed Members the service had experienced large increases in activity within the last 12 months and it was a challenge to balance the growth in demand. Referrals had doubled in the last four years from 50 a month to around 100.

The Panel were informed that there was an increasing focus towards early intervention and there was work ongoing to refocus resources to support this work.

Members were informed that SLaM were due to present at the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee in March 2018 a more in depth report on their response to the CQC report and Woodley Review, and their action plans. Members requested that they be invited to this meeting.

The CCG had conducted a review in January 2018 following the CQC inspection and while the report was not yet available early findings were that improvements had been made and that frontline staff were working hard to resolve issues. Additional staff had been appointed however further work remained to ensure improvements were realised.

Members noted that high levels of sickness and vacant posts were identified by the CQC and queried what processes were in place to resolve these issues. Officers stated the council had recruited new staff, including newly qualified social workers, and were training them to enable them to undertake more senior roles. A good training programme was also being developed for AMPs. It was recognised that there difficulties were being experienced by SLaM to recruit mental health nurses and so, where appropriate, some posts were being advertised to social workers also.

Officers noted that CCG commissioners had in the past stopped funding services without consulting the Council, however it was felt that the relationship with the CCG was improving and there was a growing appetite within the CCG to improve mental health services and the importance of prevention and early intervention. Furthermore, it was felt that the One Croydon Alliance could be used as vehicle to drive further improvements in the future with Mind having a similar role to Age UK within the over 65 model.

Members raised concerns regarding the CCG decision to cut community services which were working to help residents to not have to present for acute care. It was noted that cutting these services was increasing the volume of care required which cost more money. Officers stated the Council had looked to mitigate the impact by reviewing whether it could assist the services by assisting with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/18

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

The following motion was moved by Councillor Hopley and seconded by Councillor Clouder to exclude the press and public:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

The motion was put and it was agreed by the Committee to exclude the press and public for the remainder of the meeting.

To approve the Part B minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2017 as an accurate record.

The Part B minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2017 were agreed as an accurate record.

The purpose of the report is to update the Adult Social Services Review Panel on the key developments in Croydon in regard to Adult Safeguarding.

The Panel received an update on Adult Safeguarding in Croydon.