Agenda and minutes

·         To note that Mrs A Allen, Mrs C Bell and Dr L Sullivan are no longer Committee Members;

·         Mr M Angell and Mr M Northey have filled the two Conservative vacancies that had been left by Mr P Homewood and Mr D Pascoe;

·         Mr J Burden has filled the Labour vacancy that had been left by Dr L Sullivan; and

·         There are two conservative vacancies left by Mrs Bell and Mrs Allen.

1.          It was noted that Ms Allen, Ms Bell, Mr Monk and Dr Sullivan were no longer Members of the Committee, and Mr Angell, Mr Balfour, Miss Dawson, Mr Northey, Mr Burden and Mr Clinch had joined the Committee.

2.          A Democratic Services Officer welcomed Mr Angell, Miss Dawson, Mr Northey, Mr Balfour, Mr Burden and Mr Clinch to the Committee, and welcomed Mrs Bell in her capacity as Cabinet Member of Adult Social Care and Public Health.

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

Apologies for absence had been received from Mrs Cole, Mr Koowaree, Mrs Hurst, Mr Burden and Mr Clinch.

Mrs Crabtree attended as a substitute for Mrs Cole and Mr Bird attended as a substitute for Mr Koowaree.

1.          Mrs Beresford proposed, and Mr Angell seconded that Ms Marsh be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

Agreed without a formal vote

2.          RESOLVED that Ms Marsh be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee and take the Chair in Mrs Cole’s absence.

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.

1.          Mrs Chandler had declared an interest as she was the portfolio holder for Housing and Health at Dover District Council.

1.          Mrs Southern confirmed that further information would be submitted to the Committee at a later date in relation to the recent visit to Canterbury Oast Trust. Ms Maynard briefly talked about the feedback that had been received from providers as a result of the engagement event which recently took place to shape the future contract for residential services for people with learning disabilities.

2.          RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee held on 17 May 2019 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

1.          The Chairman welcomed Mrs Bell to her first meeting of the Committee as Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health.

2.          Clair Bell (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    New role – Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

Mrs Bell took over the role of Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health from Mr Gibbens on 20^th May 2019. Mrs Bell said that although there were challenging times ahead within Adult Social Care and Health in Kent, she was looking forward to the exciting developments ahead which would transform both the way the county worked in providing social services, but would also bring benefits to Kent’s residents, with the support of her colleagues and officers.

b)   ‘Kent Excellence in Business’ Awards

Mrs Bell attended the Kent Excellence in Business Awards on 20^th June 2019 at the Kent Event Centre in Detling. The event was partly sponsored by Kent County Council and awards were handed out to a variety of businesses across Kent. The event featured a category for Valuing Disability Business of the Year. Mrs Bell talked about the positive work that had been undertaken by Kent Supported Employment in offering a range of specialist services for individuals with learning disabilities and Special Educational Needs, working with training providers and employers to help them to understand the needs of their workers with disabilities and offering training to staff.

c)    Local Government Association Annual Conference and Exhibition

Mrs Bell attended the Local Government Association Annual Conference and Exhibition in Bournemouth from 2^nd July to 4^th July 2019. An area of the conference venue was dedicated to an Innovation Zone where local authorities and other groups held presentations on innovative projects that they had piloted. Mrs Bell said that Adult Social Care featured heavily at the conference and talked about a beneficial project that was presented at the conference which related to tackling social isolation through digital inclusion, which equipped elderly people and individuals with disabilities with a customised tablet device and ongoing support to enable them to connect with friends and family, contact their carer, watch videos and play games and puzzles.

3.          Penny Southern (Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health), gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    Welcome to the new Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health and thanks to the former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

Mrs Southern welcomed Mrs Bell in her capacity as Cabinet Member of Adult Social Care and Public Health and thanked Mr Gibbens, former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, for his support and commitment to the role over the years.

b)   Health and Social Care Integration

Mrs Southern talked about the significant changes that were taking place within health and social care and the impact that the changes would have on Kent’s residents and Kent’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 164.

1.          Mrs Southern introduced the report which set out the performance dashboard which provided Members with progress against targets set for key performance and activity indicators for May 2019 for Adult Social Care.

2.          Mrs Southern confirmed that Matthew Chatfield had joined the performance team within Kent County Council’s Adult Social Care and Health directorate and would present the performance dashboard at future Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee meetings.

3.          Mrs Southern drew Member’s attention to a typographically error within the report and confirmed that point 3.1 should state ‘There are currently 20 measures within the Adult Social Care Performance Dashboard and where appropriate a RAG (Red, Amber and Green) rating has been applied for 15 of these’ as opposed to ‘There are currently 20 measures within the Adult Social Care Performance Dashboard and where appropriate a RAG (Red, Amber and Green) rating has been applied for 13 of these’.

Mrs Southern and Ms Duff (Assistant Director – SKC and Thanet) then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Mrs Southern talked about the targets and figures within the performance dashboard which related to admissions to permanent residential or nursing care for people aged 65+. She said that at a recent Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) meeting, discussions took place in relation to the national Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) performance indicators, although Kent’s residential and nursing targets were set based on Kent’s budget. She talked about the work that had recently been undertaken within Adult Social Care’s Commissioning team and said that analytics had shown that individuals were not staying in residential or nursing care for as long as expected, which meant that the individuals that were staying in residential or nursing care for long periods of time had significantly complex needs.

b)    Mrs Southern emphasised the importance of regularly comparing targets and measuring impacts with Adult Social Care and suggested that an item be brought to a future meeting of the Committee which scrutinised specific performance indicators and targets.

c)    In response to a question, Ms Maynard referred to the performance indicator which related to the number of people receiving homecare and confirmed that the target encompassed the new contract for Kent Support in the Home, which commenced in April 2019.

4.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

1.          Ms Duff introduced the report which provided a further update and assurance to the Committee as a follow up to the Cabinet report in March 2019, on the management of Delayed Transfers of Care and the impact of the commissioned schemes and services on the overall performance of Delayed Transfers of Care.

Ms Duff, Ms Maynard and Mrs Southern then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Ms Duff confirmed that 30% of Swale residents accessed the Medway Maritime Foundation Hospital and an increasing number of Dartford residents had accessed the hospital. She talked about the joint working arrangements between Kent County Council and Medway Council and the Urgent Care Operational Group which recorded delays within the care system and defined discharge pathways for Kent residents. She added that a ‘discharge to assess’ scheme had been commissioned with the provider to support individuals to return home on a set pathway.

b)    Mrs Southern talked about the data relating to DToC and emphasised the importance of regularly analysing data in order to predict strategic investments for the future. She added that the accommodation strategy for Adult Social Care had started to shape the care market, based on current demand.

c)    Ms Maynard talked about the risks that were associated with providers and the importance in ensuring that there were fewer providers within each cluster area to make sure that the market was stable, there were fewer hand backs and that all providers were making use of the packages as and when they came on board. She added that there were multiple strategies in place which had significantly improved the situation relating to DToC.

d)    Ms Duff confirmed that home care was one of the highest reported categories for DToC across England and explained how Kent continued to ensure that statutory responsibilities were met. Mrs Southern added that Adult Social Care colleagues and commissioning colleagues jointly met with The Care Quality Commission (CQC) bi-monthly to gain oversight from CQC in relation to the current market, and address any systemic issues with providers, including national providers.

e)    Ms Duff talked about the figures within the report which related to delays for non-acute NHS care which covered individuals that were waiting to be placed on a bedded pathway, or individuals that were waiting for placements under continuing healthcare.

f)     Ms Maynard referred to Kent County Council’s ‘Care and support in the home’ service and said that although there were fewer providers within each cluster, each provider was required to take up each of the support packages, which meant that each provider was better able to plan and ensure that they could provide appropriate coverage within the locality.

g)    Ms Duff confirmed that the support pathway for individual’s with complex needs had been extended to East Kent in October 2018.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Ms Agyepong (Corporate Lead, Equality and Diversity) and Ms Harrison (Workforce Lead) were in attendance for this item.

1.          Ms Harrison introduced the report which set out the position statement for Adult Social Care and Health regarding equality and diversity work and progress on equality objectives for 2018/19.

Ms Harrison and Ms Agyepong then responded the comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Ms Harrison confirmed that data relating to religion and sexual orientation remained underreported and information gathering from clients for the protected characteristics still required improvement.

b)    Mrs Southern confirmed that limited assurance could be provided in relation to the equality impact assessment that had been carried out regarding Kent County Council’s Care Navigation contract and that an action plan was produced to address this.

c)    Mrs Southern confirmed that complaints which related to equality and diversity were incorporated within the Adult Social Care Annual Complaints report.

d)    Mrs Agyepong talked about the figures within the report which related to religious beliefs and said that the category was not solely based upon faith/cultural inheritance, but how individuals defined themselves and how Kent’s services met tailored needs in the most appropriate way.

e)    Ms Agyepong talked about technological change and digital applications within Adult Social Care and said that Kent County Council’s Digital Strategy enabled people to do more for themselves and make use of intelligent information to increase independence and improve their quality of life. She emphasised the importance of ensuring that multiple channels of communication were available for individuals.

f)     Ms Agyepong talked about the work that had been undertaken in engaging with Kent’s young carers and said that Kent County Council had commissioned services for the specific purpose of supporting and engaging with Kent’s young carers. Mrs Southern added that Kent’s engagement work with young carers would be undertaken through the commissioning of the services and the young carers would be supported until they had transitioned into young adults and older carers. Ms Harrison added that there were 47,000 new carers every year and one in nine adults in Kent were carers.

g)    Ms Agyepong said that the number of black and minority ethnic women in the mental health system had reduced and strategies were in place to ensure that the reduction continued.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Mr Mitchell (Interim Commissioner) was in attendance for this item.

1.          Mr Mitchell introduced the report which updated Members on the ongoing project to revise the Kent Adult Social Care Accommodation Strategy and presented a series of related slides.

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

a)    Mr Mitchell talked about the engagement work that had been undertaken with individuals in relation to the available accommodation options and their future plans.

b)    Mr Mitchell said that a significant challenge for Kent County Council in relation to the Accommodation Strategy was to improve the working relationships with the provider market in terms of communication and understanding individual’s tailored needs. Mrs Southern added that national legislative changes and the long-term funding of Adult Social Care had the potential to impact challenges, outcomes and behaviours.

c)    Ms Maynard said that the trading associations fully endorsed and supported the refreshed Accommodation Strategy and were keen to work alongside Kent County Council to further develop the strategy. She emphasised the importance of ensuring that care homes were efficient, sustainable and suitable for individual’s with complex needs.

d)    Mrs Southern talked about the proposed future strategic priority to increase dementia-specific care homes and the national challenges associated with dementia care services. She said that the refreshed priorities within the Accommodation Strategy would provide dementia-related support into Kent’s various homes as opposed to having dementia-specific homes. Ms Duff added that Kent County Council were working closely with the Kent Mental Health Partnership Trust to ensure that individuals living with dementia were not hospitalised and were able to remain living in their known environment.

e)    Ms Maynard referred to Kent’s extra care housing schemes and said that the Housing and Care prospectus determined plans to build an additional 1,000 extra care units across Kent. She added that there were 13 current extra care housing schemes that were in Kent and emphasised the importance of ensuring that all communities were dementia friendly.

f)     Mr Mitchell referred to a chart within the report which highlighted information relating to the increase of housing development of previously used land. He confirmed that the figures within the chart were no longer accurate and had been updated since the report’s publication and distribution to Members.

g)    Mr Mitchell and Ms Maynard talked about the engagement work that had taken place with planning and infrastructure colleagues and Kent’s districts and said that information was regularly shared with them through Kent Housing Group forums.

h)    Ms Duff expected that the dementia village in Dover would open in October 2019.

i)     The Chairman suggested that an away day be arranged for Members to visit the dementia village in Dover. Members generally supported this.

2.          RESOLVED that the report be noted.

1.          RESOLVED that the work programme for 2019/20 be noted.