Cllr
Vanier, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services, presented the
following points as an introduction to her portfolio
area:
- Adults has a net
budget of £74.3 million.
- Adults provides
personalised services to residents over 18 years of
age.
- There is a statutory
duty to work with vulnerable people in the borough.
- Aims to provide good
value for money through strong commissioning practices.
- Challenges
include:
- Poor health of some
residents over 65 years of age which use the majority of hospital
beds with reference to unplanned hospital provision.
- Increase in long term
conditions.
- Ageing
population.
- Rising cost of
care.
- Reducing the life
expectancy gap.
- Adult safeguarding
becoming a statutory duty.
- Achievements
include:
- A good re-ablement
service
- Two forty bed extra
care schemes with an estimated saving of £0.5 million in the
first year.
- Protheroe House is
being re-designed to provide extra care housing.
- Telecare –
looking to expand this further to assist in the management of long
term conditions.
- Warm and Healthy
campaign.
- Two new supported
living schemes for people with Learning Disabilities –
Campsbourne and Priory Road (coming soon to support respite and
emergency provision).
The Cabinet Member was asked
about the shadow Health and Wellbeing Board (sHWB) and the following information was given to
the Panel:
- The shadow Health and
Wellbeing Board has produced the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
and Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
- The Health and
Wellbeing Strategy Delivery Plan is due to be agreed later this
month.
- Governance of the
Health and Wellbeing Board is still under discussion as government
regulations have not yet been published.
- The current
membership is 13 people and includes the Local Involvement Network
and the Chair of the Clinical Commissioning Group as well as one
other GP.
- Examples of current work include
early bookings for anti-natal care as this has been flagged as an
area where there are issues.
- The sHWB
ceases it’s shadow form as of April 2013 when it becomes
statutory.
- There is discussion taking place as
to whether the HWB will be a partnership board or a
sub-committee. Hoping that regulations
clarify this.
- The Panel raised concerns that only
those who are on the sHWB know what
work is being undertaken and that decisions may therefore be being
made without any dialogue or input from any other stakeholder and
the implications for this once the sHWB
takes on it’s statutory function without people knowing how
it took the form which it does or why.
- The Panel asked for further
information on it’s statutory role in scrutinising the Health
and Wellbeing Board.
The Panel asked for reassurance that the new
HealthWatch budget would be at least the circa £146k
currently spent on the Local Involvement Network and whether the
budget for Patient Advice and Liaison service will come to Haringey
when HealthWatch takes over the advocacy role.
In response it was noted that In the current
economic climate there is no guarantee that any budget can be
protected.
It was also noted that Adults is not, as yet,
aware of the PALS funding.
The Panel noted that there needs to be
transparency on all funding arrangements.
The Panel asked for reassurance that as well
as improvements to online access to services and information that
improvements were also being made for those who may not have access
to the internet, or the skills to access the internet, for example
some older people.
The Panel were informed that improvements had
also been made elsewhere, for example the Integrated Access Team
which is a single point of access for people contacting Adult
services.
Agreed:
The Senior Policy Officer would send
information to the Panel on the relationship between scrutiny and
the Health and Wellbeing Board as and when this becomes
available.
A briefing on the sHWB work programme would be circulated to the
Panel.
A briefing note on the funding of HealthWatch
and the PALS funding transfer would be provided to the Panel.
Recommendation:
That the minutes of the sHWB are published on the Haringey website to allow
transparency of work undertaken.