Agenda and draft minutes

Pam Moffat, Haringey Disability Forum

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  Late items will be considered under the agenda items where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at item XX below.

None recevied

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

None received.

To approve final scoping report to go to Overview & Scrutiny Committee (attached).

Members discussed the amended scoping  report.

Agreed: The scoping report was approved by the Panel and will be submitted to Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

To approve minutes of the last review meeting held on 31st July (attached).

Agreed: The minutes of the last meeting (31^st July 2008) were approved by the Panel.

To submit original project documentation to the Panel (attached).

The Panel had asked to view original project documentation so that service based transport could be assessed in the context of it stated objectives. The Panel noted that there were a number of shortcomings to this report:

§         Financial data provided in the report to justify opting out of centralised control by the JTPU was insufficient

§         There was no service data to substantiate the move to service based transport and no baseline data to assess future service developments

§         The Project description only related to Learning Disability services

Although the decision for Adult Social Care to move to service based transport was taken by a previous Director of Social Services, the service recognised and acknowledged the shortcomings in this report.

The Panel noted that shortcomings in the original project documentation have contributed to the failure of the service to provide adequate monitoring and evaluation data to the review.  The Panel felt that a tighter initial project initiation process should be developed in the directorate.

To outline Research Governance procedures in Adult Social Care and the implications for the review.  Submission to Research Governance Panel is attached.

The Panel heard that the planned consultation for the review (with service users, carers and staff) is required to be assessed and approved by the Research Governance Panel.  This is a new statutory requirement  in which all research, consultation and service assessments involving vulnerable adults in Adult Social Care services has to be assessed in relation to ethical and research standards.

It was reported to the Panel that the application to the Research Governance Panel was considered and agreed on the 26^th September 2008.  As a consequence the planned consultation can now proceed.  Questionnaires are currently being designed, agreed and piloted with respective services.  It will be necessary to report back to the Research Governance Panel on completion of review.

To hear evidence from Adult Social Care Services in respect of the impact of service based transport in day care services.  A report is attached and the following representatives will present:   

Len Weir, Service Manager Older People’s Day Care

Eija Sinitalo, Service Manager, Older Peoples Residential Care

Beverley Tarka, Manager Day Opportunities, Learning Disabilities Partnership

Maria Hajipanayi, Head of Commissioning and Business Management, Children & Young Peoples Service

A presentation was made to the Panel by Adult Social Care.  This presentation highlighted the policy context and local drivers for the development of service based transport and outlined the main service improvements that this h. 

A number of service managers were present and were keen to emphasise the positive developments that service based transport had brought to day care.  These can be summarised as thus:

§         The development of locally managed transport service has been critical in helping the authority to meet national policy objectives, such as Valuing People.  Service based transport has helped to modernise services, extend choice and promote independence. 

§         One key benefit of service based transport is that it is responsive to the needs of service users and carers.  The flexibility and adaptability of the new passenger transport has enabled the service to cater for the individual needs of service users.  In particular, improved transport has significantly improved the opportunities service users have for accessing a broader range of services. 

§         The new transport system and the increased access to community and mainstream service this has brought, has helped service users to feel less confined to the day centre and less institutionalised.

§         As a consequence of passenger transport services being devolved to Adult Social Care from the centralised service (JTPU), this has brought greater control to service managers, particularly in being able to manage transport costs.

§         A brief consultation with similar services in 5 other boroughs found that most operated within a centrally managed transport system and wished to exert more local control over passenger transport services, as experienced with the service based model.

§         Drivers and escorts are now part of the day centre staff, a development which has brought considerable improvements in the continuity and consistency of services that clients receive.

§         The service also noted that as staff in the new service based model of passenger transport are peripatetic, this had minimised the need to use agency staff.  All staff are now trained to the day centres standards and are familiar with the needs of service users attending

§         The service based model has been in operation for 18 months and although evidently successful and welcomed by service users, carers and staff it should be recognised that the model is still being developed.  The service is trying to assess how greater use can be made of vehicles at evenings and weekends and how the service could work more closely with Haringey Community Transport Service.

Members also discussed the service report which was submitted to the Panel and raised a number of issues with service representatives.  These are highlighted below:

§         Panel Members noted that there was an absence of monitoring data within the report.  This represented a serious shortcoming for without it Members were unable to fully assess the nature of service based transport or the impact this had upon day care centre services.  In particular, there was no evidence presented in the report to substantiate how the new model  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Panel discussion with service users, carers, staff and other representative groups as to how service based transport has impacted upon Day Centre services.

In total the meeting was attended by approximately 40-50 people.  These included service users, carers and staff from local Day Centres.  Panel Members were keen to hear the views of all those attending and devoted the first part of the meeting to an open discussion about the impact of service based transport.  The following highlights the main issues to arise from this discussion:

The Chair emphasised to all those present that the purpose of the meeting and the review itself was to assess what impact the new model of passenger transport service (service based transport) has had within day care centres and not about whether transport should be provided.

Service users

§         Service users emphasised how important the day centre was to them in terms of day care services, opportunities for socialisation and the respite it provided for their carers.  In this context, safe and reliable transport to the day centre was perceived to be critical in them being able to enjoy these life enhancing benefits and that they were very thankful for this service.

§         Service users attending the meeting on the whole, were very appreciative of the transport service to and from day centres.  It was indicated that the new transport system was reliable, punctual and much more comfortable than the previous centralised service.  The reliability of the new transport service gave service users peace of mind.

§         A number of service users indicated that they had previously used Dial-a-Ride to access day centres.  However, Dial-a-Ride proved to be too unreliable and too inflexible enough to allow service users to access day centres in that it was difficult to book transport, bookings could not be made more than a day in advance and the system lacked capacity.  The new service based transport system had given additional transport capacity and more flexibility to allow service users to get to day centres. 

§         A number of service users from more than one day centre also indicated that the new transport system had increased and broadened opportunities for them during the day.  Having access to transport services during the day had for instance enabled day centre users to go to the park, attend local and central London museums and go to local events such as car boot sales.

§         There was a difference of opinion among some service users as to whether the development of service based transport had extended the time at which some service users could spend at the day centre.  Some indicated that the flexibility of the new transport system had enabled them to stay at the centre for longer, whilst others indicated that this had had little impact, with attendance restricted to 11am through to 2pm.

§         Service users noted that the new driver/escort role had improved the level of care that was provided on the transport.  A number of service users indicated that they were helpful and provided support from their home all the way to the centre.

Carers

§         Some carers noted that the new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

• To confirm dates of future Panel meetings.

• To confirm dates of Panel visits to:             Ermine Road Day Centre (LD)

                                                                                    Keston Day Centre (LD)

                                                                                    The Grange (OP)

                                                                                    The Haven (OP)

The Panel agreed that these could be arranged via email with respective services after the meeting.

None.