Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member for Health and Care.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Care, Dr Richard Harling, Director for Health and Care and Amanda Stringer, Lead Commissioner for Adult Social Care presented the Adult Social Care Enhanced Assurance to the Committee. It was reported that the Health and Care Act 2022 gave the Care Quality Commission (CQC) new regulatory powers to undertake independent assessment of local authorities’ delivery of the statutory duties set out in part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The Council has commenced preparations for Enhanced Assurance, including a “CQC readiness review” from West Midlands Association of Directors Social Services in March 2023.

It was reported that the CQC had released a framework that they intended to use for assessment which comprises of four themes and within those themes there were nine quality statements:

1.   Assessing needs

2.   Supporting people to live healthier lives

3.   Equity in experiences and outcomes

4.   Care provision, integration and continuity

5.   Partnerships and communities

6.   Safe systems, pathways and transitions

7.   Safeguarding

8.   Governance, management and sustainability

9.   Learning, Improvement and innovation

Alongside the quality statements, the Council had identified strengths as well as some areas for development which the Council was seeking to address prior to the CQC assessment. These strengths and areas for development were shared to the Committee.

It was reported that the CQC would use five types of evident to assess against the nine quality statements:

1.   Experience from people who receive care, unpaid carers and their representatives; this feedback may be from surveys or interviews;

2.   Feedback from staff and leaders and the Council’s own self-assessment;

3.   Feedback from partners including care providers, NHS organisations, Health Watch and voluntary sector;

4.   Processes including waiting times, audits, documented policies and strategies; and

5.   Outcomes achieved.

The Committee noted the following comments and responses to questions:

·         The Council received feedback from compliments and complaints and feedback from residents who had received an assessment. The Committee discussed the balance of evidence being fair and accurate between compliments and complaints.

·         The Council had sought advice on inspections from children’s social care and the NHS to take any learning.

·         Communication with the community and the role for Healthwatch to ensure that the seldom heard voices could be heard was discussed.

·         The quality statements and strengths and weaknesses would demonstrate to the CQC that the Council was competent and self-aware.

·         The County Council was implementing a range of different technologies, and there was more work to be done to move towards internet and AI.

·         All service users were involved in an initial assessment when determining the level of care that they needed. There was a quality improvement team and the Council held service providers to account on the level of care that they were providing. Any issues raised with the Council would be investigated and would be resolved.

·         There had been a cultural shift at the Council to promote strength-based practice to help residents remain independent.

·         The Committee were advised that there was a strong assurance improvement plan in place which listed all the actions and priorities and would be shared with the Working Group.

·         There were staff challenges and efforts of recruitment was ongoing. The County Council had a people strategy and requested staff feedback and surveys to improve retention. There was also a social care workforce strategy which was approved by Cabinet in April 2023.

·         There was no national way of measuring social care flow and different Local Authorities measure performance differently, so benchmarking was difficult.

·         Agencies were working together and sharing data.

·         The Health and Wellbeing Board would be considering the “Right Care Right Person” National Partnership arrangement between policing, health, and other agencies.

·         The Occupational Therapy waiting list was regularly reviewed for risk and those on the list were deemed to be of low risk.

·         Care homes were independent businesses and staff concerns around equipment, in the first instance, should be raised with the management of that business.

The Committee agreed that an Adult Social Care Assurance Working Group should be established to provide overview & scrutiny of the Councils Self-assessment and the progression of areas of development.

Resolved – That (a) the Committee commented and noted on the Adult Social Care Enhanced Assurance from October 2023.

(b) An Adult Social Care Assurance Working Group be established to provide overview & scrutiny of the Councils Self-assessment and the progression of areas of development.