Agenda item
Cabinet Member Update
The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions.
Minutes:
Councillor Vic Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Health addressed the Select Committee, a summary of the update is set out below.
Serena House Refuge Service
A new refuge accommodation service for domestic abuse survivors has been launched in Bath and North East Somerset with the help of £100,000 government funding.
Bath & North East Somerset Council secured the funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in December last year after successfully bidding in order to establish refuge services that can work with clients (both women and men with or without children), who have complex or multiple needs.
The new service is called Serena House and it will provide up to eight new units of refuge accommodation in B&NES. The first 2 units have been secured with the help of Curo and were due to open last month (June) and are situated in Keynsham where there are 2 more units in the pipeline. The project group, which includes B&NES Council (Supporting People Team), Curo, DHI and Julian House, is looking to secure further accommodation in Midsomer Norton and Radstock which, along with Keynsham, has been identified as an area with high need and no existing refuge provision.
B&NES/Swindon/Wiltshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan
All areas in England are required to have a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) showing how local health and care services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years. To deliver plans that ae based on the needs of local populations, local health and care systems came together in January 2016 to form 44 STP “footprints”. In most cases, these footprints bring together more than one local authority/Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area. Bath and North East Somerset is in a STP footprint with Swindon and Wiltshire. Health and care organisations in these three areas are working together on an STP for B&NES/Swindon/Wiltshire (BSW) with the aim of improving our local population’s health and wellbeing, to improve service quality and to deliver financial stability.
The health and care needs of the STP population are diverse and we are developing a joint approach that takes this into account. We will also ensure it aligns with individual organisational plans, including, in B&NES the your care, your way community services review and, also, with local Health and Wellbeing Strategies.
Closure of Rosewell Care Home, High Littleton
The closure of Rosewell is progressing well; Rosewell at the beginning of the home closure had 55 occupied beds.
The Council, CCG and Sirona Care & Health have ensured that every resident has an allocated social worker. Steps have been taken to ensure that residents can be safely transferred to alternative care providers in order to best serve their needs. And residents and their families will have as much choice and control over their move as possible.
As of the 14th July 2016 there are 22 residents left, of these -16 have new homes and planned dates for moves. The remaining 6 are awaiting assessments from homes.
5 residents have passed away during this time but they had remained in Rosewell, supported and cared for by staff they knew. (No death was unexpected)
28 residents have moved and they have all moved to placements of their or their families’ choice.
21 have moved to homes within B&NES
4 have moved to homes just over the border into Somerset.
3 have moved to homes Out of area to be nearer family.
Please be assured that we will continue to work closely with partner agencies, Embrace, residents and family members to ensure the safe transfer of all residents by the 22nd Aug 2016.
Councillor Paul May said that he was concerned about the boundaries of the STP and that the map relating to it defied logic. He added that he welcomed the comments made by the Cabinet Member regarding local plans. He suggested that the Select Committee receive a briefing on the STP from the Chief Executive of the RUH.
Tracey Cox commented that limited conversations had taken place so far and that no changes were expected to specialised commissioning. She added that the footprint was about an alignment of work and looking at future pathways together. She informed them that there was to be an STP engagement event on September 13th.
Councillor Eleanor Jackson said that there appeared to be a lack of joined up thinking as this appeared to be opposite to the devolution discussions taking place.
Tracey Cox replied that collaborative work with Wiltshire has taken place over many years and that there were potential dis-benefits if we remove ourselves from this footprint. She added that there is a work stream in place on preventative care and we will assess the good service provided by the Salisbury Foundation Trust.
The Director of Adult Care and Health Commissioning said that the Council should look to learn from other areas of the country in terms of devolved power and assess the risks involved.
Councillor Lin Patterson commented that she was troubled by the shift of focus to prevention.
Councillor Pritchard replied that prevention should be seen as much the better option and that the number of hospital stays should look to be reduced.
Tracey Cox added that we have high intervention rates prior to surgery that shift the focus to physio or additional exercise.
Councillor Tim Ball asked what effect this would have on patient choice and priorities.
Tracey Cox replied that the policy guidance remains regarding choice in terms of maternity and personal health care. She added that places are restricted in some cases such as the Bristol Spinal Service which has a long waiting list.
Councillor Pritchard said that the concerns of the Select Committee have been taken into account during these initial stages.
Councillor Geoff Ward said that as the demand on NHS services remains the role of Public Health is vital. He asked what future the care home industry has.
Councillor Pritchard replied that this was a national problem and one reason we introduced the local 2% precept to the Council Tax. He added that Rosewell was losing a substantial amount of money on a monthly basis and that staff and officers should be praised on an effective relocation within a matter of months.
The Chair thanked Councillor Pritchard for his update on behalf of the Select Committee.