Agenda item

Report ACH22-022

The Committee considered a report providing a refresh of the Adult Care and Health Portfolio Plan for 2022-23, and the update for Quarter 4 of the 2021-22 Portfolio Plan.

The Adult Care and Health Portfolio Plan was refreshed each year in line with the Council’s Transformation Programme and the Corporate Strategy ‘Making Bromley Even Better’. Within each priority were a number of statements which were underpinned by actions and measures of success within the work of Adult Care and Health Services.

Progress in the final quarter of 2021/22 had been made on the majority of the actions within the Portfolio Plan: The impact of COVID-19 had seen new ways of working in partnership with health partners and these positive changes continued to be incorporated into ways of working and future plans. The planned re-commissioning of services was delayed in some instances and were now on track to meet these changes.

The Portfolio Plan 2022-23 focused on two of the ambitions from Making Bromley Even Better:

-  Ambition 2 - For adults and older people to enjoy fulfilled and successful lives in Bromley, ageing well, retaining independence and making choices; and,

-  Ambition 5 - To manage our resources well, providing value for money, and efficient and effective services for Bromley’s residents.

A Member asked for further information regarding the retendering of domiciliary care services contributing to the Council’s financial efficiency targets. The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning advised that a tendering process had been completed in October 2021 with an underpinning theme of transforming how people received domiciliary care and helping them to live more independently. A trusted assessor approach would be applied in the future to ensure service users changing needs were assessed on a more regular basis, and would allow packages of care to be changed when required with Care Management oversight. In response to further questions, the Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning said that in relation to tendered providers fees had been managed via the tendered rates which were binding. The aim was to have geographical based providers, and they had looked at prices to generate savings based on this approach.

With regards to Priority 3 – Action Point 5: Domiciliary care, a Member asked for clarification regarding the additional support that had been made available to providers to recruit and retain staff. The Director of Adult Social Care said that during the pandemic, support had been wrapped around care providers. Additional resources had been provided over the winter period and a flexible approach had been taken in allocating Covid grants, with payments being passed on directly to staff to support retention. The fact that they were not seeing shortages in supply was credit to the Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning and her team, and the support provided by colleagues and partners to ensure that they could continue to care for people safely.

A Member asked for an update in relation to Priority 2 – Action 1: Improving life chances through adult learning. The Assistant Director for Strategy, Performance and Corporate Transformation (Children and Adults) advised that Bromley Adult Education College was open and delivering its community provision – courses that had been paused during the pandemic had now recommenced.

With regards to Priority 2 – Action Point 4: Deliver Public Health responsibilities for COVID-19, a Member asked if tests would be made available to vulnerable people if there was a risk of a further wave, and highlighted that many may not be able to afford them now that they were no longer free of charge. The Director of Public Health advised that the government had made the decision to cease testing at the end of March 2022. If there was a surge in COVID-19 cases the testing programme could be resurrected, but they had not been advised of any plans to do so in the future. In response to questions from a Co-opted Member, the Director of Public Health said they were aware that a number of people continued to be concerned about contracting COVID-19. Following the rates falling and plateauing, there had started to be a rise in the number of cases, however these figures remained lower than before. It was hoped that this cohort would continue to take up the opportunities for vaccinations, and it was still recommended that face masks be worn in crowded spaces. It was a difficult situation, as there was little else that the Local Authority and Public Health team could do – as COVID-19 would be here for a long time the government’s plan was for it to be managed and lived with. The Director of Public Health said that the current advice was that those aged 65+ and those who were vulnerable and immunosuppressed would be offered a second booster (fourth dose) in the autumn, however there was a possibility that this cohort would be extended to those aged 50+.

A Member enquired if an analysis of the impact of Long Covid on the Portfolio Plan had been undertaken. The Director of Public Health advised that an analysis had been undertaken and would be part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) published at the end of the year. It was noted that there were issues around quantifying the data, as Long Covid was defined as a syndrome rather than a disease, and several conditions were listed. The Member suggested that Long Covid should be kept as a standing item. In response to a further question, the Assistant Director for Strategy, Performance and Corporate Transformation (Children and Adults) advised that, in relation to Priority 2 – Action 7: Preventative early help, this would be delivered through the Primary and Secondary Interventions Service and an update on how this contract would be rolled out could be provided to a future meeting. 

The Chairman noted that page 7 of the Adult Care and Health Portfolio Plan for 2022 to 2023 referenced the establishment of a Local Care Partnership Board by July 2022, and asked if this was on target. The Director of Adult Social Care confirmed that the first meeting of the Board would take place the following week.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted:

i.)  the progress on the actions associated with the Adult Care and Health Portfolio Plan 2018/22 for the last quarter of 2021/22 – Appendix 1; and,

ii.)  the refresh of the Portfolio Plan for 2022/23 – Appendix 2.