10:00
John Jackson, Director for Social and Community Services, will update the committee on local and national issues in Adult Social Care.
Minutes:
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.
National Items
Adult Social Care White Paper
There are lots of
stories in the media about what this will include (in particular whether it
will address the recommendations from the Dilnot
Commission). There are also reports
(such as in this week’s Observer) that it will not be issued this month. From my perspective I have no intelligence
about when it will be published except that it will not be published in April
(due to the local elections in early May).
If it does not address Dilnot then this will
be an opportunity missed in my opinion.
Local Items
Oxfordshire Care Partnership
I promised the
Committee that I would update you on developments. However, at this stage I have nothing to
report other than that the negotiating team are discussing a series of very
detailed issues with the Orders of St. John and Bedford Pilgrims Housing
Association. We are still working to the
approach agreed by the Cabinet. Nick
Graham has responded to some questions raised by Cllr Stevens. Members of this Committee have been copied
into that correspondence. Cllr Stevens
came back with some further questions yesterday. Nick Graham will respond to those questions
as soon as possible.
It was AGREED that future correspondence
between Cllr Stevens and the Monitoring Officer will continue to be shared with
committee members.
Four
Seasons Healthcare
Members have understandably shown a key
interest in what is happening to the homes that Four Seasons Healthcare took
over in Oxfordshire that were currently previously run by Southern Cross. Southern Cross ran 6 homes in Oxfordshire, 5
of which were transferred to Four Seasons Healthcare, bringing the total number
of Four Seasons Healthcare homes in Oxfordshire to 6. We have carried out
quality monitoring visits to all the former Southern Cross homes in Oxfordshire
including those that transferred to Four Seasons Healthcare. Staff who carried out the monitoring visits
noted an improvement in quality at all of them.
There is a notable improvement in staff morale coupled with significant
investment (reported by Four Seasons to be in the region of £200,000) in the
buildings and equipment. All the homes have new managers and staff training for
all staff is being refreshed. New care documentation from Four Seasons
Healthcare will be launched next month and we believe this will lead to further
improvements.
The
Crown, Harwell
That said I do need to report that Four
Seasons Healthcare announced last Friday that one of the homes transferred from
Southern Cross will close – The Crown in Harwell. This is a very small home (only 16 places) with
a proportionately high number of vacancies (there are only 7 residents
currently – 4 funded by the County Council and 3 funded privately). Significant financial investment would be
required to improve the home and Four Seasons Healthcare has received no
applicants for the post of Home Manager, which is currently vacant. The home
was transferred to Four Seasons Healthcare under a management agreement; the
landlord has now decided to sell the building. Whilst its closure is not
necessarily a surprise, the 7 residents and their families are concerned are
worried about their future. We were
present when they residents and relatives were informed and we shall be
providing all the necessary support to make sure that they are transferred to
an alternative care home that meets their needs. The local member, Cllr Lilly has been
informed and is keen to be kept briefed on what is happening.
Care
Home Fees
Members will be aware that in some areas care
home fee reviews have received national media attention and in a small number
of cases have been challenged by providers.
In Oxfordshire we have had initial exploratory discussions with
Oxfordshire Care Homes Association about how we might approach the market to
discuss the same. Our view is that we
need to engage with a broad range of care home providers about the cost of care
in Oxfordshire and to this end we are about to begin a consultation process to
help support this work. The outcome of
this consultation will be reflected in a report to the Cabinet in due course
and this will help to inform proposals for future care home fees reviews. I
will of course keep Members informed of progress as we move through this
exercise.
Adult
Social Care Crisis Response Service
The Crisis Response
Service is a new service being trialled (started January 2012) countywide in
Oxfordshire for older people or adults with a disability, who are genuinely in
crisis, at risk of admission to hospital or a care home, and need an immediate
(within 4 hours) social care response. The service is available 24/7 and can be
up to a maximum of 72 hours, 24/7. As the Service is a pilot, it hasn't been
advertised to the general public but anyone can refer via the Council's Social
and Health Care Team via Customer Services during working hours or during
out-of hours via the Emergency Duty Team, to the Provider, Community
Voice. Community Voice are working
towards full strength in terms of numbers of staff, which means that during the
initial period of operation – to end March 2012 – we may not be able to respond
in all cases that would otherwise be eligible. So far we have received 73
enquiries from people who meet the eligibility criteria and have been able to
provide a service to 57 of them. 81% of those service users were still in their
own home after receiving the Service.
It was AGREED that a report covering the range
of services aimed at preventing unnecessary admission and accelerating
discharge will be brought to the September meeting of the committee.
It was AGREED that a further report should
come to the next meeting of the committee covering developments in integrating
community services teams at the locality level.
Ridgeway Trust
This Learning
Disability Trust decided that they had to look to a larger partner since they
were judged too small to become a Foundation Trust. There has been a lengthy merger and
acquisitions process which has been overseen by the Strategic Health
Authority. Ann Nursey
has provided input into the process on behalf of both the Primary Care Trust
and the County Council. Southern Health
NHS Foundation Trust has been selected as the preferred acquisition
partner. This news has been communicated
to employees of the Trust, employees of the County Council who work closely
with them and also with service users and carers.
Joint Commissioning Service
The Joint
Commissioning Service is undergoing a restructure to centralise commissioning
and contracting activity for adults and children. The cross cutting support
service – Strategy & Performance and Public Engagement is largely in place.
The proposals for Commissioning and Contracting are out to staff consultation.
This includes strengthening our contract management function, bringing
procurement support into the team and improving our communication with external
providers. We have beefed up the website sourceoxfordshire.com to include
information on the joint commissioning team and posted up all our most recent
commissioning strategies – to help providers.