Venue: Committee Room One - Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services
Tel: 020 7364 5554 E-mail: rushena.miah@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Note: Rescheduled from the 04/10/18 & 03/10/18
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS PDF 68 KB
To note any declarations of
interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from
voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local
Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring
Officer.
Minutes:
There was a declaration of a non-pecuniary
interest from Cllr Andrew Wood. Councillor Wood said that he has
moved his father to a care home operated by HC One Care which is
mentioned in the supplemental report.
With regard to agenda item 6, Residential and
Nursing Home Care, Cllr Harun declared a pecuniary interest part
way through the item when he realised that his wife worked for
Apasen, a sub-contractor of
ExcelCare Ltd which was mentioned in
the report. He subsequently took no further part in the discussion
of the item.
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2. |
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING(S) PDF 89 KB
To confirm as a correct record
the minutes of the meeting of the Health Scrutiny Panel held on 20
September 2018.
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 20
September 2018 were approved as an accurate record and signed by
the Chair.
RESOLVED:
1.
To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 20 September
2018.
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3. |
REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
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4. |
TOWER HAMLETS ADULT SOCIAL CARE CHARGING IMPACT ASSESSMENT PDF 69 KB
Tower Hamlets Council introduced a new
charging policy for community based adult social care services in
October 2017. This presentation provides an overview of the
findings from the recent impact assessment that was carried out to
review the impact of the new charging policy for community-based
adult social care services on service users and carers. The impact
assessment aimed to identify whether there has been a change in use
of adult social care services and whether the administration of the
policy has been fair and equitable. A
commitment to carrying out this assessment was made in February
2016, and the report itself focuses on the time period October 2017
(when the policy was put into effect) to June 2018.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received a report
on the Adult Social Care Charging Impact Assessment presented by
Joanne Starkie, Head of Strategy and Policy – Health, Adults
and Community and David Jones, Interim Divisional Director Adult
Social Care.
- Members
requested to see the raw data from REAL’s survey to verify
the statistics in the report. Officers said they could provide
this.
- A query was
raised about the financial impact of care for spouses. Officers
responded that the person receiving the care would be billed unless
there was a power of attorney.
- Officers
acknowledge that communications about the charging policy were not
as clear early on but they had since improved. The Charging Team
had gone out into the community to engage with people about the new
policy and to provide advice.
- Members
requested a briefing on the charging policy for spouses. Officers
agreed to produce this.
- Members
queried the 47 care packages that were stopped. Officers explained
that some of these people decided they did not want to pay for the
service and went back to prior care arrangements. Officers said
systems were in place to ensure suitable care arrangement were in
place to safeguard these adults.
- There were
fewer cases of people not being assessed and being invoiced the
full amount due to investigation and engagement by the Charging
Team and REAL in advising people to fill out the forms.
- A Member
highlighted the need for sensible commissioning considering a
larger segment of the population was expected to require care
services in the near future.
- It was
confirmed that those who were exempt under Section 117 but had been
erroneously charged, had received reimbursement.
- Members
queried what mechanisms were in place to identify a change in
circumstance. Officers replied that
care needs were assessed on an annual basis.
- A Member
queried whether debt recovery for care costs was followed up by the
wider council’s debt recovery team or whether there was a
specialist care debt recovery team. Officers explained that debt
recovery was discussed at a special panel chaired by David Jones
Interim Divisional Director of Adult Social Care. The panel was
responsible for reclaiming debt sensitively on a case by case
basis.
ACTIONS:
- Members
requested to see the raw data from REAL’s survey to verify
the statistics in the report. Officers said they could provide
this.
- Members
requested a briefing on the charging policy for spouses. Officers
agreed to produce the brief.
RESOLVED:
- To note the
key findings from the impact assessment.
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5. |
TOWER HAMLETS ADULT SOCIAL CARE SERVICE USER SURVEY 2017/18 PDF 70 KB
Local authorities in England, in line with
their statutory responsibility for providing adult social care
services, are required to conduct an annual survey of their service
users. Findings from this survey are key
to benchmarking performance at a national, regional and local
level, as well as monitoring changes over time. The results of the
survey also help the Council to understand the impact of adult
social care services on people’s quality of life and key
areas for improvement, helping to inform and support the standard
and delivery of Tower Hamlets adult social care services.
This presentation provides an overview of the
2017/18 survey results
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received a report
from David Oates, Senior Performance & Intelligence Manager
– Health Adults & Community, on the Tower Hamlets Adult
Social Care Service User Survey 2017/18.
- There was a
correction made on page 35 of the pack. It was noted that the
response rates were 57% female, not 43%, and 43% Male, not
57%.
- Members
advised that it would have been useful to have benchmarking figures
compared to neighbouring boroughs included in the report. Officers
noted this for future reports.
- NHS Digital
did not provide a definition of ‘anxious’ or
‘depressed’ in the survey.
- The survey
was purely paper based and received a 25% response rate. This was
considered to be a good response rate. Officers worked with NHS
Digital to improve the questions readability. The free text box
enabled officers to make referrals and take action on individual
cases.
RESOLVED:
1.
To note the key findings in the report.
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6. |
RESIDENTIAL AND NURSING CARE HOMES AND HOME CARE PROVISION IN THE BOROUGH: QUALITY AND CAPACITY PDF 402 KB
This report provides an
overview of the care home and home care markets in the borough. The
regulatory framework within which these market sectors operate is
explained as is the role of the Care Quality Commission in
maintaining oversight of regulatory compliance. The
report explores a range of quality
and capacity issues relevant to the care home and home care market
in the borough.
Report to follow:-
The report was not published
five clear days in advance. The Chair has decided
this report must go to the December 11 2018
Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee as the agenda for the meeting has
been designed to intrinsically link this deep dive item of
‘Residential and Nursing Care Homes and Home Care
provision in the borough: Quality and Capacity’ to the
other two reports being presented before the committee. By
reviewing all three agenda items together the committee will be
able to better Scrutinise health and social care services around
the theme of satisfaction and quality of home care. The reports and
subsequent discussion will not be as meaningful if they were viewed
in isolation at separate meetings.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received the
report of Denise Radley, Corporate Director of Health Adults &
Community and Warwick Tomsett, Joint Director of Integrated
Commissioning, on Residential and Nursing Care Homes and Home Care
Provision in the Borough. There was also a presentation from Keith
Burns tabled on the day outlining care home quality and capacity in
the UK.
In response to Member questions
officers provided the following:
- John Tucker
House was not listed as a care home in the report because it was
classified as sheltered housing and was not regulated by the
CQC.
- It was
noted that the relatively low level of accident and emergency
hospital admissions from care homes reflected the quality of Tower
Hamlets care homes and their ability to effectively care for ill
patients.
- Tower
Hamlets Council is 1 of 39 registered reablement services. The
Council commissions six reablement services.
- Kelly
Tanner from Excel Care was invited to comment on discussions from a
provider perspective. She said the Home Care Contract 2017 had
improved joined up working with the local authority. The Ethical
Care Charter had improved pay by joining care homes to the London
Living Wage. Travel expenses were reimbursed and there was improved
recruitment and retention. Tower
Hamlets was unique in it’s multi-disciplinary work and joint
working arrangements. She said the Council had been helpful and
supportive towards care workers in the borough.
- The new
care contract has commissioned six providers to work across four
quadrants. It was noted that this reduced travel time between
appointments and allowed more time for care. Carers were paid for
travel time if working under the same provider.
- There was a
discussion about the proportion of care workers working the minimum
12 hour week per Ethical Care Charter guidelines. Ms Tanner explained that care workers tended to
prefer flexible hours rather than the prescribed 12 hours agreed by
the provider because flexible hours offered more of a choice of
when they could work.
- Councillor
Muhammad Harun came to the realisation that he had a disclosable
pecuniary interest to declare in that his wife worked for Apasen a
sub-contractor of Excel Care. No further questions were taken from
Councillor Harun.
- It was
noted that the Council had limited powers in preventing a care home
to close due to the sale of the business or change of use, unless
there was a Covenant Agreement in place.
- Ms Tanner
explained the professional requirements and training for care
workers. She said that all are workers were required to complete a
Care Certificate which comprised of 15 standards, unit tests and a
workbook. And that induction training at the care home included
information on people’s cultural needs and efforts were made
to accommodate certain cultural foods or languages. Managers were
responsible for one to one meetings with care workers; the meetings
provided an opportunity to discuss policies and
procedures.
- Although
recruitment efforts were being made to hire bilingual staff, it was
recognised that sourcing care workers with a broad range of
community language skills was ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Minutes:
There was no other business.
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