Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Councillors H Allen and N Geary.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Councillor J Kelly acted as substitute for Councillor H Allen.

Councillor P Hilliard acted as substitute for Councillor N Geary.

Councillors are required to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and the Council's Code of Conduct regarding Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

Councillors are also required to disclose any other interests where a Councillor is a member of an external body or organisation where that membership involves a position of control or significant influence, including bodies to which the Council has made the appointment in line with the Council's Code of Conduct.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

There were no declarations of Pecuniary Interest or other interests made at this meeting.

For transparency Councillor C Matthews informed the Committee he was a Governor at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust. Additionally, he informed the Committee he worked for the Alzheimer’s Society and the Memory Support and Advisory Service so would leave the room for the duration of Item 8, the Dementia Service Review.

For Transparency Councillor C Johnson informed the Committee she was a staff nurse at Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2019.

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2019 as an accurate record.

To note and comment as required on the action sheet which tracks decisions, actions and outcomes arising from previous Committee meetings.

The Committee confirmed the action sheet without amendment.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of public questions is 11 November 2019

The deadline for the submission of a statement is 12.00 noon, 15 November 2019

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 12.00 noon, 15 November 2019

There were no public questions, statements or petitions received for this meeting.

The following item was circulated by email to members for information since the last meeting of the panel. The report is available on the Council website.

a.)  Branch Closure of GP Surgery

A copy of any questions raised by members and corresponding answers in relation to these are to be circulated at ‘6’.

Members will be asked to confirm whether further scrutiny is required on these items and the agreed method for this to take place.

The following item was circulated to the Panel for information since the last meeting on the Committee. Members were asked to confirm whether further scrutiny was required in respect of the items below:

a.    Branch Closure of GP Surgery

The Director of Primary and Community Care, NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group attended the meeting. The Committee were given some background on the closure of the practice. It was highlighted that the closure would allow Dorset Healthcare to deliver Sexual Health Services and to provide improvements to the local GP services.  

A number of questions were raised and discussed by members some of which included;

·         That the Out of Hours Service would be available from Walpole Road;

·         Whether measures were in place to ensure the proposed changes were suitable long-term. It was explained that previously decision making had been made nationally but a change in custodianship to Dorset NHS providers meant provisions could be made to suit local need. 

RESOLVED that: -

No further scrutiny was required on the above report.

The Committee will receive feedback from the BCP Adult Social Care Charging Strategy Working Group. The Working Group was convened to make recommendations to Committee on the draft policy, with this meeting considering proposals for public consultation. The proposals would then be agreed by Cabinet.

The Senior Research Officer, Service Director for Adult Social Care and the Head of Service Development presented a report, a copy of which has been circulated and appears as Appendix ‘A’ of these minutes in the Minute Book.

The report presented the committee with proposals for a public consultation which would outline the principles for a new BCP Adult Social Care Charging Policy.

An updated policy was required to align the policies of the three predecessor councils and to ensure all residents, carers and clients across BCP received an equitable service. Following consideration by Committee any recommendations would be included in a report considered by Cabinet, for approval, on 20 December.

The Service Director forAdult Social Care Services explained that the Bournemouth and Poole Policies had recently been reviewed and were notdissimilar. The policy in Christchurch was a legacy policy from the former Dorset County Council.  It was important to be mindful of the potential impact of increases in charging for Christchurch residents, as it was Christchurch residents who pay the maxium level of charge, who would see the most significant change as a result of the principles proposed in the report.

The Head of Service Development outlined the charging options within the report. It was highlighted that the recommended model was a Full Cost Recovery Model, which meant the maximum charge for a service would be the cost of delivering that service. No profit would be made by the Council and only residents who could afford to pay would be required to do so. It was particularly highlighted that this was not an income raising proposition.

Details of the proposed changes to key charges were explained to the Committee. These were identified within the report and included charges for out of area assessments, (which would be charged to other Councils),  deferred payments, day centres and standard transport. 

It was highlighted that due to the General Election on 12^th December, the Cabinet meeting had been postponed which meant the dates for the consultation, within the report, would be put back a few weeks.

The Senior Research Officer informed the Committee that all service users would be sent a consultation document, a questionnaire and a free post envelope.

The consultation document would explain the background and reasons for the changes. It would then, for each proposal, explain the service, the current situation, the proposal and its impact. Service users would also be given information on where further help and information was available.

The principles for the consultation included using plain and simple language, having a clear layout, easy read versions, translations and audio versions, and drop in events for questions. The Committee where talked through the day centre attendance proposal as an example. The general public will also be able to participate in the consultation through an on-line survey.

Several questions were raised and discussed by members some of which included;

• That the financial assessments would be individually assessed, and each client’s case would be reviewed before  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

To receive a report on the consultation findings and decision making of the Dementia Services Review

The Principal Programme Lead, the Head of Service and the Clinical Commissioning Lead for Mental Health and Dementia, within the Primary and Community Services Directorate for the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), presented a report, a copy of which has been circulated and appears as Appendix ‘B’ of these minutes in the Minute Book.

The Committee were provided with an update on the Dementia Services Review and the proposed new model of care. It was highlighted that the Dementia Service Review had progressed through consultation and a new model of care had been proposed. The full business case was awaiting final approval by the NHS Dorset Governing Body. Approval was expected early 2020.

The Committee were informed that the Dementia Service Review began in 2017 and went through several stages, that included view seeking, options modelling and development, NHS Assurance, Consultation and implementation. The aim of the review was to improve care for people from their diagnosis to end of life

The case for change, cost implications and benefits were explained to the Committee. The benefits of the review would include a smoother and quicker diagnostic process, improved outcomes for people living with dementia, greater support and resilience for families and carers, more services in the community accessible near to home, more efficient and cost-effective services, greater compliance with NICE standards and additional return on investment and cost benefits.

It was particularly highlighted that a new dementia coordinator rolewould help people to navigate the health and social care system and would ensure both people living with dementia and their families had a contact for advice, guidance and sign posting to other community services.

 Several questions were raised and discussed by members some of which included;

• The improvements to support for carers and their families and whether the support services would be readily accessible;
• Funding for the service, particularly that funding was subject to the NHS Long Term Plan Finance Settlement. It was highlighted that the model had been agreed by the Governing Body, had strong system support and was a priority area for investment;
• Details of the primary care element of the model, the new model would be more primary care focused with the introduction of dementia coordinators, the Memory Assessment Service and alignment with Primary Care Networks;
• The benefit of being able to connect with local and voluntary sector services through the Dementia Co-coordinators;
• That the Plan was considered more robust and efficient, particularly regarding screening;
• Whether training sessions and workshops on dementia care could be delivered in conjunction with CCG Colleagues;
• That a Dementia Service Directory would be available to members of the public that would give information and would signpost to a range of community service related to Dementia;
• Whether the CCG could return in two years to provide an update;

RESOLVED that: -

(a)  The committee noted the update.

(b)  Requested that the Dorset CCG provide an up-date report in two years time so that the Committee could scrutinise the impact of the new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The Committee will receive a report on the process involved to ensure the Council responds to Quality Accounts of local NHS organizations.

The Principal Officer Planning and Quality Assurance presented a report, a copy of which has been circulated and appears as Appendix ‘C’ of these minutes in the Minute Book.

It was highlighted to the Committee that all NHS Trusts provided an annual Quality Accounts Report around April. The report summarised the performance and the quality of the service over the preceding year. Examples of considerations included key areas for improvement, quality indicators and customer feedback. 

The Committee were informed that following the Francis Enquiry 2010-2013, which identified serious failings in care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, it was recommended that quality accounts contain observations and comments from commissioners, overview and scrutiny committees and local Healthwatch.

It was suggested that two Councillors could be aligned to each of the four trusts, which were Dorset Healthcare Trust, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The councillors would work with a nominated officer and their allocated trust to scrutinise the Trust’s Quality Accounts and would provide a formal response, that would be signed off by the chair, before sumbmission for inclusion in the Trust’s quality accounts report.

A number of questions were raised and discussed by members some of which included;

• That Councillors would not scrutinize trusts they worked for;
• That Dorset County Hospital Trust had notbeen scrutinized by the preceding councils and would be scrutinized by Dorset Council, the Committee could request feedback from Dorset Council if required;
• The South Western Ambulance Trust would facilitate discussions through teleconference or skype call.

RESOLVED that: -

(a)  The Committee noted the update.

(b)  Democratic Services would email members to establish which Trusts they would be interested in scrutinizing.

The Committee will receive reports from the preceding Bournemouth and Poole Councils on the 2018/19 survey outcomes regarding Adult Social Care Complaints and information on how BCP Council is managing the statutory complaints process for Adult Social Care.

The Principal Officer Planning and Quality Assurance and the Quality Assurance Team Manager presented a report, a copy of which has been circulated and appears as Appendix ‘D’ of these minutes in the Minute Book.

The Committee were provided with an update on the statutory responsibility under the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) regulations 2009 to report complaints and other representations about Health and Adult Social Care.

It was particularly highlighted that work was underway to align the complaints service across BCP Council, which had previously been managed by three separate authorities. BCP Council had begun to manage feedback on Adult Social Care for Christchurch and the service across the three areas would shortly be managed by one team.

The report provided a summary of the feedback and learning from the predecessor Councils, Bournemouth Borough Council and Poole Borough Council. The summary of learning included a need to improve communication and the perceived standard of service and professional practice.

It was also highlighted that complaints training would be reviewed and a new online learning module would be available for all BCP staff. Additionally, in 2019/20 learning workshops would be rolled out using the Bournemouth and Poole complaints process to improve service delivery.

The Committee were also given details of some of the 20 national performance indicators as well as information on additional feedback and engagement activities that were taking place, particularly the rolling programme of care provider events.

It was highlighted that performance, statutory surveys and customer engagement were all also in the process of being aligned for adult social care. This and the complaints work would feed into a Quality Assurance and Standards Framework.

A number of questions were raised and discussed by members some of which included;

• Details of the timescales for responding to complaints;
• Whether the higher proportion of white irish, any other black and women raising complaints in Bournemouth was evidence of discrimination, information on this could be circulated after the meeting;

·         That some complainants make several complaints a year. If someone does not have a resolution following the first complaint, they should report it to the LGSO for an independent review;

·         There are complaints that don’t make the formal statistics e.g. if someone doesn’t want to make a formal complaint or if something is dealt with under a normal care management process;

·         The need for improvement in Poole regarding the Carer Survey. Targeted work was carried out with client groups to drill down and understand the findings from the survey;

·         That the quality of life score for Bournemouth would be provided after the meeting;

·         That the surveys were currently being developed and would be sent out as BCP Council however the team would ensure results were considered in detail;

·         The response rate to the survey by carers. This would be circulated following the meeting;

·         Concern around the question on ‘having enough contact with people I like’. It was highlighted there was work on tackling loneliness underway.

RESOLVED that:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

To scrutinise the Health and Social Care elements of the Cabinet Performance Report and to discuss how this could link to the Adult Social Care Strategy.

The Corporate Director for Adult Social Care presented a report, a copy of which has been circulated and appears as Appendix ‘E’ of these minutes in the Minute Book.

The Committee received a copy of the Corporate Performance Management Report that went to Cabinet on 13 November 2019. The Corporate Director for Adult Social Care took the Committee through the Adult Social Care Performance Indicators.  She drew attention to key indicators where initial performance for BCP Council is below national averages (in particular the percentage of people with a learning disability living in suitable accommodation and who are in employment) and said that the future Adult Social Care Strategy would set out plans for improvement in these areas.

It was explained that a selection of indicators were identified to allow an overview of Adult Social Care. It was the first time the report had gone to Cabinet and the Committee were asked to comment on the basket of indicators, particularly whether there were any recommended additions.

A number of questions were raised and discussed by members some of which included;

·         That the Council would examine opportunities for people with learning disabilities to gain employment and training. That Crumbs could potentially input into this discussion;

·         Whether there should be an indicator for rough sleeping and homelessness and a recognition that the issue sits within Housing but overlaps with health and adult social care.

RESOLVED that: -

(a)  The committee noted the overall Q2 performance levels

(b)  Considered the attached exception reports relating to areas of current adverse performance

To consider and amend the Committee’s Forward Plan as appropriate.

The Committee approved plans to work jointly with Dorset Council on joint scrutiny proposals and noted that there would be work to develop a protocol for joint scrutiny between Dorset and BCP Council, building on the protocol which existed between the predecessor Councils.

RESOLVED that: -

(a)  The committee agreed the Forward Plan without amendment.

(b)  Officers work with Dorset Council to establish a joint scrutiny protocol in order that the identified items for joint scrutiny can be progressed in a timely manner.

For Councillors to note the change of location of the meeting dates of the Committee, as listed below:

6pm Monday 20 January 2020 – Council Chamber, Christchurch Civic Centre

6pm Monday 2 March 2020 – HMS Phoebe, Bournemouth Town Hall

Members discussed moving the next meeting of the Committee to Bournemouth Council. It was also highlighted that the council would benefit from skype and video call meetings.

RESOLVED that: -

(a)The next meeting of the Committee, 20 January 2020, be held in Bournemouth

Vote: For – 7; Against – 1; Abstentions - 2