Agenda and minutes

1.          Mrs Beresford proposed, and Mrs Chandler seconded that Mrs Bell be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

Agreed without a formal vote

2.          RESOLVED that Mrs Bell be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

To note that Mr Homewood has resigned as a Committee Member.

1.          The Committee noted that Mr Homewood had resigned as a Committee Member.

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present.

Apologies had been received from Mrs Allen, Mr Koowaree and Ms Marsh.

Mrs Stockell attended as a substitute for Mrs Allen, Mrs Dean attended as a substitute for Mr Koowaree, and Mr Northey attended as a substitute for Ms Marsh.

To receive any declarations of interest made by Members in relation to any matter on the agenda.  Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared.

No declarations of interest were received.

To consider and approve the minutes as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee held on 12 March 2019 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

To receive verbal updates from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health.

1.          Graham Gibbens (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    Diocese of Canterbury Safeguarding Meeting

The Diocese of Canterbury recently held a meeting at which they discussed the Diocesan’s current focus on safeguarding issues relating to vulnerable adults and children.

b)   ESTHER Inspiration Day

The ESTHER Inspiration Day took place on 21^st March 2019 and was well attended. ESTHER was a Swedish person with long term health conditions who had to tell her story to professionals 23 times. Sweden developed a more person-centred approach that Kent would be adopting and was being developed across Kent. The Inspiration Day focused on looking at different ways in which support could be provided to individuals in a person-centred way and how an ESTHER approach and way of thinking could make a difference to service users.

c)    Visit to Canterbury Oast Trust

Mr Gibbens, Mrs Southern and the Chairman of Kent County Council recently visited Canterbury Oast Trust, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities in Kent and East Sussex.

d)   Community Hub Operating Centres (CHOCs) and Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings

Mr Gibbens and the Leader of Kent County Council attended events relating to the development of Local Care facilities across Kent, plans to establish more MDT’s in Kent in the future and how individuals could work together to ensure the best outcomes for Kent’s residents.

e)    Wayfarers Care Home, Sandwich

Mr Gibbens referred to the consultation which had been launched on 15^th May 2019 by Kent County Council in relation to the future of Wayfarers Care Home in Sandwich and confirmed that the consultation would end on 24^th July 2019. A progress report would be brought to the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee meeting on 17^th July 2019, and a further report would be brought to the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee on 27^th September 2019 detailing the proposal and consultation outcomes.

2.          In response to a question, Mr Gibbens talked about the conversations that had taken place between Kent County Council and the Ministry of Justice over recent months in relation to ex-offenders and said that Kent County Council were working closely with district councils in Kent to ensure that ex-offenders were well supported  and had access to secure and stable accommodation.

3.          Anne Tidmarsh (Director of Adult Social Care and Health – Partnerships), on behalf of the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    Esther model of care

Ms Tidmarsh reiterated Mr Gibbens’ comments in relation to the ESTHER Inspiration Day and reminded Members that whilst the Swedish model of care, Esther, strived to improve patient care for the elderly, it was relevant to any individual with a long-term condition or complex need.

b)   Kent County Council’s Adult Social Care and Health restructure

The senior restructure within the Adult Social Care and Health directorate within Kent County Council which focused on business need had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155.

To receive a report which provides an overview of how safeguarding activity is undertaken across the Adult Social Care and Health, including the Lifespan Pathway Service, Directorate.

Mrs J Davidson (Head of Strategic Safeguarding, Practice and Quality Assurance) and Ms S Soleimanifar (Project Lead – DOLS) were in attendance for this item.

1.          Mrs Davidson and Ms Soleimanifar introduced the report which provided an overview of how safeguarding activity was undertaken across the Adult Social Care and Health, including the Lifespan Pathway Service, Directorate.

Officers responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Ms Soleimanifar talked about the way in which processes within the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) team had been developed in an attempt to reduce the backlog of DoLS applications, reassign workloads to allow senior staff members to support more complex applications, and prevent applications and authorisations lapsing.

b)    Ms Soleimanifar said that the number of DoLS applications continued to increase and that approximately 450-500 applications were received per month, of which approximately 40% were prioritised.

c)    Mr Thomas-Sam talked about the significant increase nationally in demand for DoLS assessments since 2015 and referred to the much-awaited legislative changes that would be applied when the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill was implemented in Spring 2020.

d)    Ms Soleimanifar talked about the way in which the backlog of DoLS applications were managed and prioritised. Ms Tidmarsh reiterated Ms Soleimanifar’s comments and emphasised the importance of identifying risks and taking immediate action if risks were identified.

e)    Ms Soleimanifar talked about the Deprivation of Liberty Backlog Project and the one-off funding secured by Kent County Council in February 2018 to fund the project. The aim of the project was to eliminate the backlog of current DoLS applications within scope, through access to increased resources.

f)     Mr Thomas-Sam confirmed that the DoL arrangements did not correlate directly with the quality of care being provided. He said that quality of care was a separate issue and was managed by the care provider.

g)    Ms Tidmarsh said that a system was in place to monitor the agencies that Kent County Council contracted with.

h)    Ms Soleimanifar confirmed that the timeframe for completing the original of DoLS applications was two years.

i)     Ms Soleimanifar said that due to the vast increase in demand for assessments under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, ADASS developed a screening tool to assist councils to respond in a consistent and timely manner to those requests which had the highest priority. Kent County Council has adopted this tool, balanced against local knowledge, with each application judged on its own merit.

j)     Ms Soleimanifar said that the team that managed the DoLS applications backlog and the wider DoLS team worked very closely together.

k)    Ms Tidmarsh referred to the Deprivation of Liberty Backlog Project and the future legislative changes and said that concerns would be addressed, and decisions made accordingly.

l)     Mr Gibbens, Cabinet Member of Adult Social Care and Public Health, thanked Members of the Committee for their input in the subject and said that safeguarding would continue to be prioritised in Kent.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report which provides an update on the improvements that have been made to the management of the Older Persons Residential and Nursing Contract and options for its renewal.

Mr C Merchant (Senior Commissioner) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Merchant introduced the report which provided an update on the improvements that had been made to the management of the Older Persons Residential and Nursing Contract and options for its renewal.

Mr Merchant then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mr Merchant referred to the blue sections within the Risk Quality Matrix, Appendix 2 to the report, and confirmed that it meant that analysis had not taken place as of yet.

b)    Ms Maynard emphasised the importance of ensuring best value from use of collective resource and data within systems. Ms Tidmarsh reiterated Ms Maynard’s comments and talked about the management of safeguarding issues and the processes that were in place to prevent risk.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report from General Counsel on the committee’s work programme.

RESOLVED that the work programme for 2019-20 be noted, subject to the inclusion of:

• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) Update