The Council received 2 Questions on Notice to Members of the Council

Mr Thomas Grey to Councillor Judith Heathcoat

Following the Chipping Norton Hospital Action Group's survey, the results of which we would like to hand over to OCC for its own evaluation, will OCC now take the views expressed by over 1300 people in the community into account and give consideration to including Chipping Norton War Memorial Community Hospital in the countywide review to be conducted in 2016?

Answer

As with all consultations the Council undertakes, the views of all those in the community who respond will be conscientiously considered.

Ms Suzy Imeson to Councillor Judith Heathcoat

The rationale for the proposed cut to the “SCS15 Intervention and preventative services – aphasia” states that this is to remove duplication and streamline stroke services. What current duplication and lack of streamlined services does this refer to, how has this been assessed and has this been corroborated by service users?

Answer

The aphasia service predominantly supports people who are being discharged from hospital following a stroke, and helps people to regain independence. In this way, it provides similar functions to a range of short-term support (also called intermediate care) services that are typically used to support people following a period of illness or an event which has made them less able to get by in their day to day lives, for example, after a stay in hospital or an injury.

A detailed review of these short-term support services undertaken jointly with NHS partners has identified that there is a significant amount of overlap and duplication between them. As agreed by Cabinet on 26^th January 2016, these services will now be replaced with two services: a single Urgent Response & Telecare Service, and a single Hospital Discharge & Reablement Service. It is this duplication and streamlining that was referred to in the rationale, and applies to a wide range of services including aphasia. The rationale was not intended to indicate duplication within stroke services in particular, and I apologise if this was not clear.

I absolutely acknowledge the good work that the service does as part of the wider support provided by the Stroke Association, and appreciate the proposal to stop funding this service is unwelcome news. However, the scale of the budget reductions the council faces are significant and will require some very difficult decisions to ensure we can set a balanced budget from April 2016 onwards.

We will continue to ensure that people with eligible needs for care and support receive the support they need. Oxfordshire County Council is committed to working with Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure that appropriate support for people who have had a stroke is in place. If this budget proposal is agreed, we will engage with current users of the service to help ensure that future support for people with aphasia is integrated into the Council’s core adult social services, including the new short-term services referred to above. This would include an emphasis on ensuring information and advice, advocacy, assessments and support planning acknowledge people’s specific communication needs. We will also continue to invest in services that support carers and families.

Supplementary Question

Our support is specifically to enable long term communication success and is not providing care, it’s not a clinical service, a reactive telecare service does not address the needs of people with Aspasia for the simple reason that people to Aspasia struggle to communicate over the phone or via other technology.  How long will a hospital discharge and reablement service be involved for and will they be able to support people with Aspasia and their families and carers in their life after stroke when they experience needs long term so that they do not experience a loss in support or independence.  Where was the consultation on this review with the people that use this service?

Answer

I feel I gave you a very full response, there is one thing I would like to pick up on within your questions and it refers back to the Budget papers.  You are reading duplication as being within stroke services, which in fact we are talking about duplication in short term support and the wording in your question is not the same as that which appears in the budget papers which states that we will be working closely with NHS Partners.  I do understand about stroke, I have had personal experience of it, both my mother and my grandmother who were both registered as blind, had strokes, so I know entirely what it means, and there will be talking with you and others because today is the Budget day.  Going forward, if the Budget is implemented that is when we will be talking to people.