Agenda and minutes

Cllr Richard Stevens sent apologies and nominated Cllr Liz Brighouse as a substitute.

Cllr Jenny Hannaby declared an interest as Chairman of the newly formed Friends of Health and Wellbeing Centre.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of April 24^th (AS3a) and note matters arising from them.

To also approve the minutes of the meeting on 15^th May 2012, (AS3b) to appoint the Chairman & Deputy Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting on April 24^th were signed and approved.

The committee AGREED that Cllr Larry Sanders could continue as a member of the Quality Assurance Workgroup.

None received.

10:00

John Jackson, Director for Social and Community Services, will update the committee on local and national issues in Adult Social Care.

John Jackson, Director of Social and Community Services, updated the committee on local and national issues in Adult Services. The key points and actions arising are summarised below.

Members we invited to contact the Director for further information relating to Adult Services should they need it, particularly those new to the committee.

Cllr Arash Fatemian, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, joined the meeting.

OCP latest position

Negotiations are continuing.  A number of issues have been agreed but some points are still outstanding.  We continue to work within the framework set out in the Cabinet report and the discussions that took place at the Scrutiny Committee in January.  Any proposal that would move away from that framework would come back for further member consideration.

Discussion focussed on where the responsibility of care lies. The Director said that whilst primary responsibility sits with the provider, the directorate has a robust monitoring system in place for providers, which prevents placements being made where concerns arise.

The Director suggested that members may want to have a further session with Sara Livadeas, Deputy Director, Joint Commissioning on the subject of quality.

It was added that the importance of strengthening quality and contract management was reflected by the recent appointment of Stephen McHale as lead for Quality, Contracts and Procurement within Joint Commissioning.

Consultation on transport for day services

The Director informed the committee that the consultation had begun.

Deputy Director Adult Social Care

The committee were informed that Lucy Butler has been appointed to this role and will begin on 23^rd July.  There will be an overlap of 2 weeks before John Dixon finishes his assignment.  A recent communication about Lucy’s appointment provided a short pen picture of her experiences and skills.

In anticipation of the new appointment, both the committee and the Director thanked John Dixon, Interim Deputy Director, Adult Social Care for his hard work whilst in post.

Letter re takeover of Southern Cross

A copy of the letter announcing the takeover of Southern Cross by Terra Firma was shared with the committee recently.  This reduces the debt of the organisation but also raises questions about the long term intentions of the new owner.  We shall continue to monitor the situation carefully both in terms of the financial sustainability of the 5 homes in Oxfordshire and the quality of care.

Members expressed some concern at the takeover by Terra Firma. Concerns focused on the risks associated with involving private equity firms with care facilities.

The Director recognised these concerns and said that they pointed to a need for good commissioning that achieved value for money whilst ensuring the financial sustainability of providers. It was stated that the directorate undertook regular checks of care providers to ensure the council was alert to any emerging issues concerning the standard of care or a provider’s financial stability.

Adult social care white paper

It is still unclear when the White Paper will be published.  It is possible that it may be next month.  It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 221/12

10:45

John Jackson will present the draft Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (AS6a and AS6b) for Oxfordshire. The consultation started on 15^th May and will run until the 22^nd June 2012.

Members are invited to comment on the priorities identified and the draft strategy.

John Jackson presented the draft Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Oxfordshire and invited members to comment on the priorities, particularly for Adult Health and Social Care.

Members broadly praised the objectives and targets outlined in the report, with further discussion focusing on how these targets would be achieved.

The Director stated that officers would have to come up with implementation plans for the targets.

Members expressed concern that some areas such as drug and alcohol use, and long-term advice on health were not included as priorities.

The Director emphasised that the strategy was designed to highlight the priorities for Oxfordshire, and that whilst work was still ongoing to tackle drug and alcohol abuse, this area wasn’t considered a priority. It was also pointed out that providing long-term advice on health fell within the remit of the Health Improvement board.

11:15

Sara Livadeas, Deputy Director for Joint Commissioning, and Ian Bottomley, Deputy Head of Partnerships at Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, will present the Joint Physical Disability Commissioning Strategy (AS7). A further report covering the results of the recent consultation will be distributed to the committee prior to the meeting.

Members are invited to comment on the strategic direction outlined in the paper and consider its implications.

Sara Livadeas, Ian Bottomley, Deputy Head of Partnerships at Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and Ann Nursey, Lead Commissioner (Adults), presented the Joint Physical Disability Commissioning Strategy.

Officers explained that the strategy was an example of how the Joint Health and Wellbeing priorities were being implemented, and that to this end, an overarching theme of the strategy was to help people live as independently as possible for as long as possible.

Ian Bottomley updated the committee on the results of the recent consultation.

There was a discussion on the subject of pooled budgets. Ann Nursey said that work was underway to reassess the physical disability pooled budget and emphasised that the strategy would be important in helping to prioritise the effective allocation of resources.

Members expressed concerns that any proposals for pooled budgets didn’t impact negatively on service users. In particular, members asked whether the proposed changes would make the transition from 64 to 65 years old less smooth for service users.

Ann Nursey recognised these concerns, stating that they pointed to a need for a personalised, joined-up approach to commissioning that prevented any drastic changes to how users received services through the duration of their lives. Ann Nursey said the new Joint Commissioning structure in the council reflected this need.

Members were assured that there would be pooled management of the physical disability pooled budget.

11:45

John Dixon, Deputy Director for Adult Services, will deliver a report on the integration of community services teams. The report (AS8) covers the ways in which Health and Social Care teams are joined up at a locality level.

The committee are invited to note the findings and comment on the direction of travel.

John Dixon delivered a report on the integration of community service teams; outlining work underway to improve integration of Health and Social Care teams at locality level.

It was explained that the starting point of this work had not been structural considerations, but rather a need to create teams focused around the patient.

Members agreed that creating a single point of contact for GPs was a worthy aspiration, but added that delivering such aspirations was often very difficult in practice.

John Dixon recognised these concerns, stating that the directorate was working closely with the newly formed Customer Services Centre to help tackle these difficulties.

12:15

Ben Threadgold, Senior Policy and Performance Officer, Chief Executive’s Office, will provide an update on the Equality Act 2010 and the Equality Duty and its relevance to scrutiny (AS9).

Ben Threadgold, Senior Policy and Performance Officer, Chief Executive’s Office updated the committee on the Equality Act 2010 and the Equality Duty and its relevance to scrutiny.

Members noted the Equality Duty as something that both Officers and Members should be mindful of.

12:30

Adrian Chant, LINk Host Manager, and a member of the LINk Core Group will deliver an update from the Local Involvement Network and answer the committee’s questions (AS10).

Adrian Chant, LINk Host Manager, and a member of the LINk Core Group delivered an update from the Local Involvement Network.

Members were informed that the LINk would be bringing the Social Care Hearsay report to the committee in September.

12:45

The meeting closed at 12:55.