Minutes:
The Director of Adult Social Care gave an update to Members on work being undertaken across the Adult Social Care department.
It was noted that everyone had been living and working in extraordinary times over the last seven months. Staff had been dealing with concerns from residents, service users and carers; providing practical and emotional support to providers; support to colleagues; finding out ways of working remotely and also dealing with the personal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their day to day lives.
The Director of Adult Social Care stated that she was incredibly proud of all that her team had achieved, and provided some highlights of the work that had been undertaken:
The Director of Adult Social Care advised that it was important to note that the Local Authority had not introduced the use of Easements, which gave the power to relax some of the rules around the Care Act responsibilities, and these had continued to be delivered. During this period, waiting times had been reduced and social workers had kept on top of reviews. Work had also continued with the Transformation Programme, and in some instances was moving faster than had been anticipated, particularly with regards to integrated working.
Looking forward, work had been undertaken to review learning from Wave 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as preparing for the inevitable Wave 2, to ensure that positive learning was embedded and plans were put in place fill any gaps. The Director of Adult Social Care informed the Committee that the Local Authority had recently been notified of the need to prepare a Winter Plan for Adult Social Care, to be completed by 31st October 2020. A draft of the document would be circulated once finalised. There was a comprehensive set of actions to complete, including:
As well as:
It was noted that previously, discussions had taken place regarding the need to raise the profile of Adult Social Care. The last few months had been a good opportunity to do this, however the role of social care staff had been overshadowed by the recognition directed at staff working within the NHS. The Director of Adult Social Care added a plea, that if there was a return to ‘clapping for carers’, to please remember and be proud of the work being undertaken by all of the staff working within the Council – they all deserved equal recognition. Members acknowledged this, and it was agreed that a message of thanks should be sent to staff on behalf of the Committee. It was noted that the update provided by the Director of Adult Social Care highlighted the scale of work undertaken, and the pressures faced by staff, and thanks were extended to her for leading the department during a very difficult period.
Councillor Angela Wilkins informed the Committee that through her role at Hestia, she was aware that the London Borough of Bromley was considered to have been one of the best Local Authorities for distributing PPE – providing it quickly and efficiently.
In response to questions, the Director of Adult Social Care advised that it was inevitable that there would be increased demand on the services being delivered. However, as the Local Authority had a good working relationship with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the scale of growth experienced in neighbouring boroughs had not been seen. For example, the South East London CCG had picked up the funding for the first six weeks of care after an individual left the Single Point of Assessment (SPA) – there had been no issues in receiving the money back as there was a robust system in place. If a resident required a service long term, they were financially assessed, or if they required continuing healthcare they had followed that pathway. Work was already underway to model the anticipated demand during Wave 2, based on information received from King’s. Work to look at the difference in the population effected would be needed to establish if, going forward, a younger cohort was more likely to be impacted. It was noted that the anticipated additional growth to be factored into the budget was being discussed with Finance.
In response to a question, the Director of Adult Social Care advised that in terms of the younger population, they were having conversations with the voluntary sector about what support could be offered to this cohort. Discussions would also take place with domiciliary care providers regarding what services they could offer to individuals that were not typically eligible for Adult Social Care, but may need some sort of assistance.
With regards to the shape of services, the Director of Adult Social Care noted that early on in the pandemic the pattern of demand had changed, largely where people were funding their own care. The Assistant Director for Integrated Commissioning was undertaking a piece of work looking at what had happened during the pandemic and why some individuals were making different choices. Conversations were also taking place with providers to gain an understanding of what was happening within the private market, which would allow them to model the anticipated future demand. It was noted that the current situation had created an opportunity to rethink the different types of support that should be commissioned by the Local Authority going forward.
The Chairman requested that the results of the recent staff survey be brought to the November meeting of the Committee, to consider the support provided during the pandemic.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.