Minutes:
The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services gave an update to Members on work being undertaken across the Education, Care and Health Services Department. The Deputy Chief Executive began his update by explaining that for this meeting he would focus on commissioning, programming and adult social care.
The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director ECHS formally thanked Ms Lorna Blackwood, the previous Director of Commissioning for the work she had undertaken in supporting the Care Services PDS Committee during her service at the London Borough of Bromley.
The new Director of Programmes, Mr Paul Feven, was introduced to the Committee. The Director of Programmes would be heading up the Department’s new Commissioning Division and would oversee the commissioning and contract management framework.
The Deputy Chief Executive set out the key developments within commissioning, programming and adult social care which included:
· The transfer of the re-ablement contract which would commence on 1st December 2017.
· Development of a Commissioning Strategy which would identify the commissioning requirements for future years and ensure that the Council knew and understood the key challenges facing services.
· Better Care Fund – work to integrate services with Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) would begin.
· Developing the role of the Local Authority in terms of supporting the local care market in order to improve services to residents.
· Planning for winter – ensuring that robust processes were in place to meet challenges in terms of minimising the length of hospital stays.
· Direct Payments – ensuring users had the option of co-ordinating their own care.
In opening the discussion, the Chairman requested that any future reports presented to the Committee had only a brief overview of processes with a greater focus on outcomes and the ways in which success had been measured.
A Member of the Committee stressed the need to ensure that any contracts between the CCG and the Local Authority were drafted with sufficient clarity and that any risks and liabilities were adequately managed.
In response to concerns that were expressed surrounding delays in the progress of delivery of the Better Care Fund the Deputy Chief Executive provided assurances that a plan had now been agreed between the Local Authority and the CCG and monitoring had been built into the processes. Both organisations had agreed on the sense of direction and the need to work together in order to meet the needs of Bromley residents. Members stressed the need to ensure that pace was injected into the delivery of the Fund.
In considering the Commissioning Strategy a Member requested that the Committee be provided with updates regarding developing the relationship with providers. The Deputy Chief Executive indicated that the work that was being undertaken in relation to supporting and developing the market would be key to this.
Turning to the re-ablement service, a Member highlighted that in the past concerns surrounding the number of agency staff employed by contractors had been raised. It was suggested that the Committee may find it helpful if more detailed information about the profile of the workforce such as the number of full-time permanent staff, the number of agency staff, and the average age of staff could be provided in future contract monitoring reports.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.