Agenda item

This report provides an update on the current Community Equipment services available to residents of Bath and North East Somerset. 

The Commissioning Manager for Adult Social Care introduced this report to the Select Committee. He explained that it provides an update on the current Community Equipment services available to residents of Bath and North East Somerset.  It also outlines a project underway to review all community equipment services and develop an up to date policy for the provision of community equipment. He stated that the review will inform the re-procurement of the service under a new contract from April 2019.

He informed them that there is a pooled budget arrangement in place for community equipment, totalling £675,730 in 2017-18, which is funded 70% by the Clinical Commissioning Group and 30% by the Council.

He said that Community Equipment is a vital service which supports people to maintain or increase their independence in a range of different ways.  One of the key aims of the Council and CCG is to support more people to remain at home and to do this, consideration and review of the community equipment service is essential to ensure it is fit for purpose and able to respond to increasing numbers of people living at home, especially returning home from hospital without delay. 

He stated that the Community Equipment Policy is due to be published in Summer 2018 and that the review and subsequent procurement of the community equipment services is scheduled to complete in Spring 2019.

He explained that the equipment service currently cleans, disinfects and recycles around 90% of the equipment that is out on loan and returned. He added that in order to be decontaminated, items that have been returned must be stored in the ‘dirty’ area of the Store. Due to space constraints, it is not always possible to keep the items waiting to be cleaned inside the Store building, so some items remain outside the building while they wait to be cleaned and recycled. The size and appropriateness of the current site is therefore also under review.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson recalled that she had informed the Select Committee of the inadequacies of the store following receipt of information from four Westfield residents who were told to put their unwanted Zimmer frames in a skip outside the store. She added that she was not aware of the recent amnesty mentioned within the report.

The Director of Integrated Commissioning replied that the Senior Commissioning Manager for Better Care had addressed the previous issues raised by Councillor Jackson and acknowledged the physical constraints of the current store and difficulties in identifying an alternative, fit for purpose store, which is also affordable.

Councillor Robin Moss questioned the economics of recycling some specific items and asked if there were cases where equipment requests were being denied.

The Commissioning Manager for Adult Social Care replied that the viability of certain items was being assessed. He added that there was a slightly fragmented system in place at the present time, but improvements to logistics have been recognized.

He added that the ‘Three Conversations’ model will allow for discussions to establish why patients feel they need certain pieces of equipment.

The Select Committee RESOLVED to note the update on Community Equipment provided.