Minutes:
The Director of Adult Social Care gave an update to Members on work being undertaken across the Adult Social Care department.
The Director of Adult Social Care advised Members that there had been little change since the update provided at the last meeting in September. Nicola Gage, the new Assistant Director for Operational Services was introduced to Members. Since her arrival in August, the Assistant Director for Operational Services had spent time embedding the new structure, picking up on the Transformation agenda and managing the day-to-day business. The new structure had now been running for three months and as promised, the Assistant Director for Operational Services would be reviewing the changes, and actively engaging staff in this work. It was likely that some small changes would be made to the structure to further refine the process.
Members were advised that the new Liquid Logic system had gone live at the beginning of November. As with the introduction of any new system, staff were having to get used to working slightly differently. There were some pinch points that had been identified, and extra capacity had been put into those teams to assist on a short-term basis. The Director of Adult Social Care advised that staff had coped really well with these two changes, which had taken place in a fairly close timescale, and were showing their willingness to come up with solutions, rather than just raising issues.
The requirement for all staff working in, or attending, care homes to have had two vaccinations came into law on the 11th November 2021. Bromley care providers were in a very strong position with over 90% of staff having received both vaccinations by the deadline. This also applied to LBB staff who may be required to visit care homes as part of their duties. At the deadline, only 17 staff had not received both vaccinations. In response to a question from the Chairman, the Director of Adult Social Care advised that as there were more than 280 staff, this equated to a very small percentage. Individual meetings had taken place involving HR and operational managers to understand the reasons for refusal. It was highlighted that there was sufficient capacity in all services to maintain levels of staffing whilst fulfilling statutory duties. The Director of Adult Social Care noted that it was likely the government would extend the requirement to care home staff. Again, Bromley was well placed in terms of the levels of staff fully vaccinated and they were also encouraging staff to take up the booster jab when offered.
Since the last meeting the department had been awarded the Municipal Journal (MJ) Award for Integration of Social Care and Health. This was an excellent recognition of the work carried out both to enable people to be discharged from hospital in a timely way, and also recognising the work that the team did, and continued to do, with care homes. The joint work reflected in the award left the department very well placed to respond to what was expected to be a very tough winter and had made planning much easier.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.