Agenda item

A presentation to provide the Committee with an overview of how the role and remit of Newton's is contributing to the transformation of the design and delivery of services which will result in improved outcomes for adults.

The Chair welcomed Tony Pounder, Director of Adult Services; Cath Whalley, Head of Service Social Care Services; Linda Garnsey, Operations Manager, Support Planning and Review; Rachel Meadows, Operational Manager East AIA; and Stephen Knight, Newton Europe, to the meeting.

 

The Committee was provided with a presentation on an overview of how the role and remit of Newton Europe was contributing to the transformation of the design and delivery of services which would result in improved outcomes for adults.

 

Newton Europe had provided technical support to Adult Services as well as guidance and input into a major change programme. The programme was called Passport to Independence. What was important to note was that this built on the knowledge, skills and values of the existing managers and leaders in the organisation and staff on the front line. 

 

Adult Services had secured technical knowledge from Newton Europe that it felt it needed to better organise some of the processes, practices and systems. The overall approach for this was in three stages:

 

·  Assessment – identifying where the biggest opportunities for improvement were. It was noted that Adult Services was not making the best use of practitioners' time.

 

·  Design – what were the solutions and how do we know they work. Stage 2 had begun in February 2016 and would end in August 2016.

 

·  Implementation – rolling out that supported practice transformation across the county, locality by locality. The implementation stage would take 12 – 14 months.

 

 

Adult Services staff were playing a central role in driving this forward. A massive part of the work was understanding what needed to be changed and this was where support from Newton Europe was essential.

 

In terms of the improvement approach the programme covered Older People (OP), Physical Disabilities (PD), Learning Disabilities (LD) and Mental Health (MH).

 

By ensuring citizens and their families were at the centre of social care services in Lancashire, Adult Services would empower and equip staff and citizens with the information and tools so they were able to work together to achieve the desired outcomes, whilst promoting independence and wellbeing.

 

Questions and Comments by the Committee in relation to the report were as follows:

 

·  Members were pleased to see a transformation taking place.

 

·  The Committee wanted some reassurances regarding occupational therapists. It was informed that 17 occupational therapists were currently employed but Adult Services had recently appointed a further 20 . This would enable concerns about the length of waiting times to be addressed.

 

 

·  Another appointment had been made to improve relationships with the Acute Hospitals Trust

 

 

 

·  The Committee felt it was vital for LCC and the Acute Trusts to start working together as a joined up service regarding the rehab and respite of elderly people. It was informed that the Adult Services Team was currently in the process of meeting with colleagues.

 

·   Regarding assessment capability, Members were informed in terms of integrated working there were practitioners in hospitals, social workers, and discharge coordinators who were traditionally nurses employed by the NHS. They had access to the services Adult Services provided. Regarding people's capability, Adult Services had to be confident that all the practitioners who had access to commissioning services were properly assessing and making decisions based on what someone's level of ability and strength was.

 

·  In terms of the Better Care Fund (BCF), Members were informed that in Lancashire this was £91m. Around £26m of the fund protected Social Care Services.

 

·  The Committee pointed out that Fylde and Wyre had the highest level of elderly people within Lancashire and therefore felt that because the Customer Access Service was based in East Lancashire, the trials and sandboxes undertaken in that area were giving an unbalanced view because the higher majority was in Fylde in Wyre and that the figures from the analysis might be misleading. It was informed that there were pros and cons for all areas of Lancashire and a large amount of work had been done by LCC's finance and information colleagues. There was a lot of data analysis, benchmarking and understanding of demographics going on in the background to make sure results and figures reflected the population of the county.

 

·  Concerns were raised with regards to people coming home from care who lived in properties owned by Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). Members enquired if these properties were adequate and had been adapted for these people, and did Adult Services have links with RSLs about adapted properties. They were informed that Adult Services worked closely with District Councils, the Housing Associations and RSLs regarding which properties had been adapted. If a home was unsuitable, a short term care arrangement could be put in place.

 

·  It was vital to ask frontline workers their views. The structural issues were secondary, as the key issues were how did Adult Services get better processes, better practices, better support for frontline workers and better management.

 

·  It was noted that the main problems and pressures that Health and mainly hospitals faced were addressing services for the elderly. It was important to get the staffing numbers proportionate to the demand being faced and comparative studies were taking place in the county. In terms of commissioning services, it was also important to make sure the amount of work commissioned was proportionate to the needs in different areas.

 

·  Concerns were raised over lack of communication between Adult Services and its customers.

 

·  The Committee requested the numbers of sandbox Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) to Screening Initial Assessment Service (SIAS) referrals, and non-sandbox CAS to SIAS referrals.

 

·  The main focus of commissioners is to make sure that, with the providers of home care, was that Adult Services were delivering consistently. One of the major issues in homecare delivery was the number of home carers who were visiting people. It was vital to get a smaller group of carers staying with the people over a longer period of time. The Committee felt this was an important issue and was interested in the future to see how this service delivery was progressing and was being dealt with.

 

·  Members were informed that 60 more social workers had been recruited with a further 25 still to be recruited. These extra staff were not yet post.. In the long term Adult Services needed to consider how to support a range of activities to the extent that maximised its productivity. Members requested periodical reports on this.

 

·   The Committee acknowledged the good news of the recruitment of extra occupational therapists and the increase in the number of social workers.

 

·  Members enquired how much more work was being done with home improvement agencies as they were crucial to the work Adult Services did and were informed that close relationships were developing.

 

·  The Committee was informed that the ideal caseload for a practitioner was around 20. Practitioners had stated themselves that this was an ideal number.

 

·  Members also expressed concerns about the effectiveness of Liquid Logic in assisting with service delivery and requested that further detail be provided

 

A copy of the presentation is appended to these minutes

 

Resolved: That

 

1.  The report be noted

 

2.  The Committee receive periodical updates on how the recruitment of additional social workers was easing waiting times and how Adult Services was maximising its productivity.

 

3.  The Committee receive data for sandbox Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) to Screening Initial Assessment (SIAS) referrals and non-sandbox CAS to SIAS referrals.

 

4.  The Committee receive information on the current position of Liquid Logic and future plans in relation to improving service delivery