Agenda item

Cabinet Member Update

The Cabinet Member will update the Select Committee on any relevant issues. Select Committee members may ask questions on the update provided.

Minutes:

Councillor Vic Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Health and Wellbeing addressed the Select Committee. A copy of the update can be found on their Minute Book and as an online appendix to these minutes, a summary of the update is set out below.

 

Market Position Statement (MPS) Event

 

In April, The Council hosted an engagement event with providers and key stakeholders as part of a two month consultation on the draft Market Position Statement (MPS) for adult social care. This event was well attended and the MPS itself well received.

 

Further consultation is underway to develop the specific commissioning intentions for homecare. Workshops are taking place in June and July with providers, service users, carers and other key stakeholders.

 

Domiciliary Care Events

 

Commissioners are actively engaged with providers, key stakeholders and service users / carers in developing the future design model for homecare and held the first of a series of engagement sessions in June 2018.  Providers brought a wide range of ideas for improving services and developing the care sector.

 

In a vibrant and informative session, service users and carers shared their views of services and what make the biggest difference to their lives.

 

It was also suggested that the Council create a set of published standards and expectations for service users, carers and providers to all engage with. Further workshops are planned over the summer, from which a high level service model will be produced and refined into a business case for approval to proceed to procurement.

 

Sirona Dispute

 

Strike action undertaken by Unison to support staff across the 3 Community Resource Centres and Extra Care facilities in Bath is continuing in July 2018 with a series of further one-day strikes planned against the change to introduce unpaid breaks in line with the rest of the care sector and remaining Sirona employees.  The Council will continue to monitor the situation with Sirona and support service continuity.  Capital investment into the CRCs by the Council continues as planned with new clinical facilities and improvements to the 3 care homes underway (such as dedicated clinical rooms and general refurbishment).  Sirona is currently in the process of registering Combe Lea for nursing care with the Care Quality Commission which will increase the number of dementia nursing care beds available in the B&NES area.

 

Councillor Lin Patterson asked if any further comment could be made on the pay and conditions of affected staff.

 

Councillor Pritchard replied that the dispute is between Sirona and their staff. He added that the Council commissions the services of Sirona but has no means by which it can offer a possible resolution to the dispute.

 

The Director for Integrated Health & Care Commissioning said that following the statement to full Council by Unison, when it was agreed that the dispute could be considered for a cross-party discussion at the Select Committee it could look to keep track of this issue by making an entry on their workplan and that the Chair could decide on the need for an all-party discussion, but reminded them that on this matter they have limited powers.

 

She stated that due diligence was carried out prior to the current contract being awarded to Sirona.

 

The Chair said that she was aware that Sirona had made offers of further pay and that this had been accepted by quite a number of staff.

 

The Director for Integrated Health & Care Commissioning said that she believed this was the case.

 

Councillor Lizzie Gladwyn said that she believed that the issue currently was that non Unison members of staff would not receive the increased pay offer. She said that she acknowledged this must be resolved by Sirona, their staff and Unison.

 

Councillor Tim Ball commented that he was aware that agency staff are being paid more than the staff that are striking and asked if any sanctions could be brought against Sirona if there is a break in service.

 

The Director for Integrated Health & Care Commissioning replied that the Council monitors the quality of service and that the dispute has not impacted on continuity of care. She added that the Council has no concerns about the quality of care being provided and neither does the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

 

She stated that there are contract levers in place if the service is deemed less than appropriate. A Contract Performance Notice could then be issued and require them to produce an action plan to address the issues. She added that the CQC could also give them a low quality rating and require Sirona to implement an action plan to address the areas for improvement.

 

Councillor Pritchard commented that if a lack of continuity of care does arise there will obviously be damage to Sirona’s reputation. He said that, to some extent, the issues arising from this dispute are a local interpretation of a national issue.

 

Councillor Geoff Ward said that he had received a letter from a resident who was a Sirona member of staff that described how they felt they were not valued or paid enough. He added that there was a need to find an economy of scale to deal with our ageing population.

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Pritchard for his update on behalf of the Select Committee.