Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Adults, Housing and Health. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Wellbeing

Declarations of interest for this item:

None

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1.    Noted the findings in the CQC Assessment report as set out in Appendix 1 and the summary of findings in Appendix 2.

2.    Approved the Improvement Plan as set out in Appendix 3.

3.    Noted the establishment of the cross-party, Adult Social Care (ASC) improvement Board (AIB) that serves as the central governance mechanism for overseeing delivery of the ASC Improvement Plan.

4.    Noted that the Improvement Plan will be subsequently presented to    the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, with updates to the Panel going forward to evidence continuous improvement.

5.    Noted that the Improvement Plan is live document and will be subject to regular changes and updates. Any significant changes will be approved by the AIB.

6.    Noted the progress made to date, as outlined in section 10 of this report.

Reasons for decision

The council has a critical role in supporting support adults —particularly those who are older, disabled, or vulnerable — to live as independently, safely, and well as possible. It is essential that the council provides a good service to our residents and to their carers, and in doing so complies with all regulatory and statutory duties. Residents need to be assured that the council is committed to improving its services, that it has a clear plan to do so, is holding itself accountable and is accountable to residents, stakeholders and staff.

Alternative options considered

Alternative options include not implementing an Improvement Plan. However, a clear plan is required to ensure and monitor continuous improvement and compliance with statutory responsibilities is essential

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing introduced the report.

It was explained that Adult Social Care services often interacted with people at some of the most challenging and complex moments of their life. Navigating these complex moments could be extremely stressful for residents and families, and sometimes very complex for those providing the support. It was stressed that it was important that the Council delivered care and support to a good standard and that it welcomed the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) feedback, as it provided the Council with the opportunity to reflect on how the Council could improve the services and support we provided.

It was explained that the Adult Social Care Improvement Plan set out the Council’s plan for addressing the feedback we received from CQC over the next three years. It set out a practical set of actions that we would take, working alongside residents, families, carers, and staff, to deliver services in a way that best supported our residents to live independent and fulfilling lives. The journey would be overseen and scrutinised by a new internal cross-party Adults Improvement Board (AIB), which was chaired by the Council’s Chief Executive.

In response to comments and questions from Councillors Gordon, Arkell, Cawley-Harrison the following information was shared:

• It was explained that the key objectives for improvement as part of the first year of the improvement plan included improving waiting times for assessments, complaint handling, development of staff and the implementation of the Carers’ Strategy.
  
  
• It was explained that monitoring of the implementation of Improvement Plan would be undertaken by the Adult’s Improvement Board.
  
  
• There was a recognition that there was a need for Key Performance Indicators within the service, but stressed that there was also recognition that the Care Quality Commission and the Council had agreed on the key themes for improvement which were reached within the plan.
  
  
• It was explained that the the internal Improvement Board would review the metrics for monitoring improvement.
  
  
• The Cabinet Member noted the financial challenges. It was stressed that this was a risk to delivery, but also that these financial challenges would push the need to improve efficiency and standards, in order to help with the identified financial challenges. It was stressed that there was additionally a need for national and regional reform to ASC in order to help deliver changes.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1.    Noted the findings in the CQC Assessment report as set out in Appendix 1 and the summary of findings in Appendix 2.

2.    Approved the Improvement Plan as set out in Appendix 3.

3.    Noted the establishment of the cross-party, Adult Social Care (ASC) improvement Board (AIB) that serves as the central governance mechanism for overseeing delivery of the ASC Improvement Plan.

4.    Noted that the Improvement Plan will be subsequently presented to    the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, with updates to the Panel going forward to evidence continuous improvement.

5.    Noted that the Improvement Plan is live document and will be subject to regular changes and updates. Any significant changes will be approved by the AIB.

6.    Noted the progress made to date, as outlined in section 10 of this report.

Reasons for decision

The council has a critical role in supporting support adults —particularly those who are older, disabled, or vulnerable — to live as independently, safely, and well as possible. It is essential that the council provides a good service to our residents and to their carers, and in doing so complies with all regulatory and statutory duties. Residents need to be assured that the council is committed to improving its services, that it has a clear plan to do so, is holding itself accountable and is accountable to residents, stakeholders and staff.

Alternative options considered

Alternative options include not implementing an Improvement Plan. However, a clear plan is required to ensure and monitor continuous improvement and compliance with statutory responsibilities is essential