The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration will provide
the panel with an overview of the main service areas within Adult Social Care’s
remit, and outline the priorities, key issues and challenges for the year
ahead.
Minutes:
The Director of Adult Social Care and Health
Integration was in attendance to provide an overview of the service area.
Reference was made to the operation of Adult Social
Care in relation to its structure and profile.
The Director outlined the various teams and services that comprised it;
identified the relevant Executive portfolios; and highlighted such matters as:
community inclusion; equipment service support; independent care services and
commissioning to external providers; and support provided by the Voluntary and
Community Sector.
A Member made reference to the work of the Estate
team and queried whether direct payments were included within this. In response, it was indicated that they were
not included. The Director explained
that Middlesbrough Council was one of the earlier authorities to embrace this
approach, which had become a normal part of the support plans that all Social
Workers put in place. The work of the
Estate team was narrower than that.
With regards to challenges facing the service area
this year, Members heard that these included:
·
Charging reform, which related to how individuals paid for their
care. Proposals had been made by the
government and plans to respond to this were currently being devised. A project plan was being led by the Head of
Resident and Business Support; the Director chaired a reform board. It was explained that a substantial increase
to staffing resources in responding to the reforms would be required; however,
staffing was currently an issue for all Local Authorities. It was felt that there would be a significant
funding challenge around this, particularly in areas where there was a high
number of self-funders (Middlesbrough did not fall into that).
·
Fair Cost of Care – the service area had been mandated to undertake an
exercise, which related to a payment framework for care providers and examining
the real cost of care provision (e.g. rising utility, insurance, fuel and food
costs). There was a requirement to
report the outcome of this work to the government by October 2022. Consideration was given to the cost of care
provision in Middlesbrough in comparison to other areas, and potential
pressures that this could cause.
Reference was made to the Medium Term Financial Plan and related
considerations within this.
·
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance Framework and the future
inspection regime; the full framework was currently awaited. It was indicated that from April 2023, the
CQC would start a benchmarking process and operate a two-year inspection
cycle. Reference was made to inspections
undertaken over the last 12 years; the austerity period and current
demands. Activities including short peer
reviews and discussions with Children's Services around service improvement and
lessons learned would be taking place over the summer, which would assist with
work around self-evaluation and awareness.
A former director had also been commissioned to challenge data and performance. A report detailing the framework would be
submitted to the Executive in due course.
The Chair thanked the Director for the information
presented.
NOTED