Agenda item

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 of passenger transport had improved day opportunities for service users, despite this being a key objective for the new transport service.

§         The Panel also noted the paucity of financial information within the report; there was not enough detailed information and some elements of the financial information provided were unclear.  Members were particularly keen to see more financial data given that the new service based model of transport was intended to deliver a more cost effective service.  Given the lack of monitoring and associated financial data, Members indicated that they were in no position to establish if this new model of passenger transport service was cost effective.

§         The service acknowledged that the report did not contain as much substantive data as it would have liked, particularly financial data.  In part this was due to the incomparability of the service based transport model with the previous centralised passenger transport service.  Under the old centralised service, Adult Social Care was simply recharged as a proportion of the overall cost for all council transport services.  Under the new model of transport services, there was now an element of budgetary control.

§         The Panel indicated that it was critically important that the service develop systems to collect operational data and to maintain more detailed financial monitoring of the transport service as these were central in developing evaluative data.  The Panel emphasised that if the new model of transport provision is successful as the service suggests it was important that the service generate such evaluative data to:

o       Support ongoing internal (i.e. scrutiny) and external (i.e. CSCI) service assessments,

o       Future-proof the model to prevent arbitrary changes to the service in the future,

o       To determine whether other services would benefit through developing this model of transport provision across the borough.

§         The Panel also questioned the service on the global demand or capacity of the transport service and the key drivers that influence this. 

o       It was explained that the all service users are assessed by a Social Worker under the Fair Access to Services criteria. 

o       There are a limited number of places at day centres which clearly influences demand for transport.

o       A new day centre is due to open in 2009 which will impact on demand for passenger transport services.

Agreed: That the service provides further financial information concerning the operation of service based transport at day centres in particular; budgetary increase recorded from 2005/6 to 2008/9; component cost pressures driving 2008/9 budget. 

Agreed: That the service provides briefing note explaining the recharge system within the old centralised passenger transport service (JTPU) detailing how service costs were calculated. 

Agreed: That the service keeps a ‘transport diary’ for a period of 1 week to provide a snapshot of the nature and volume of transport usage at respective day centres.

Agreed: That the service provides a geographical analysis of where service users are located in the borough for respective day centres.