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 recognised the impact that the sad loss of Councillor Mary Cooke had on officers within the Adult Social Care directorate. The Director of Adult Social Care said that she represented all staff when noting how much Councillor Cooke would be missed for her wise counsel, constructive challenge and her interest and support over the years – she had a unique ability to ask seemingly innocent questions, that totally hit the mark. Condolences were extended to Mr Cooke, and Councillor Cooke’s wider family.
The Director of Adult Social Care welcomed Councillor Allatt to the role of Chairman of the Adult Care and Health PDS Committee and noted that she looked forward to working with him.
Members were advised that staff had coped well with a very busy festive period. This time of year was ordinarily busy, but this was exacerbated by the ongoing pressures created by the pandemic and the drive by health partners to catch up on delayed appointments and treatments. The PRUH had survived this particular pressure point well, and there were no undue delays in getting people home when they were ready – this was a real tribute to everybody across the whole system for working well together over this extremely busy time.
The directorate’s support to care providers was stepped up once again just before Christmas, when an increase in the number of care settings dealing with both residents and staff affected by COVID-19 was being seen – at its height, over 60 care settings were being supported with outbreaks. The Director of Adult Social Care said she was pleased to report that the numbers had decreased significantly over the last couple of weeks, and care providers were coping very well. The multi-agency team had dealt with this in a calm and professional manner, taking learning from earlier in the pandemic to provide appropriate support, which had been really valued by the care sector. It was noted that staff had stepped up with a real sense of calm and control, which was testament to the energy and the commitment that staff had put into this work.
The directorate had continued to distribute COVID-19 grants to the sector in line with government requirements, although it was anticipated that going forward, these grants would become fewer. In order to provide additional capacity in Bromley, six designated beds had been commissioned at Burrows House Care Home to allow the discharge of patients who remained COVID-19 positive from hospital until they exited the infectious stage of their recovery. This service was funded by the South East London CCG, and Bromley was the only borough in southeast London that had managed to achieve this. This service would run until the end of March 2022.
The introduction of mandatory vaccinations for those working in residential care settings was introduced in Bromley, and there had been no significant impact on the delivery of services. Again, this was testament to the whole system working well to both encourage and support staff working in those settings to get their vaccinations. This requirement was being extended from the 1st April 2022 to other registered providers, such as those who provided home care and supported Extra Care housing. But again, it was not anticipated that there would be any major impact on delivery as high numbers of staff had evidence of vaccinations, which was good news.
The Director of Adult Social Care informed Members that, last week, the service had held a very successful launch of the new guidance to support staff and service users with direct payments. The online event was attended by over 200 staff across the Council and Bromley CCG, and staff feedback from the session had been extremely positive. The service continued to develop its future plans for transformation, which would focus not only on local priorities but those highlighted at a national level as part of the White Paper – in particular the focus on the reintroduction of inspections of the whole service by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Further details were still awaited, and an update would be brought to the Committee later in the year.
In response to questions, the Director of Adult Social Care advised that there was one provider that was in the process of closing, however this was in response to a long-term issue. This was a home that had been providing quality care, so they were disappointed to be losing them from the market. With this exception, the market had been very well maintained, and a number of new providers of home care support were coming into the market, and it was therefore considered that Bromley was in a strong position.
Members were advised that the service had received an indication that the CQC would recommence inspections of adult social care. It was assumed that inspections would look at the delivery of the whole service including how budgets were managed; how carers were supported; how they were planning for the future; and how the market was being managed – however further details were still to be released. It was noted that inspections were not expected to begin until the beginning of 2023, at the earliest.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.