1. Mr
Gibbens reported that Brenda Bridgland will retire on 20 April after working for
the County Council for 32 years, latterly supporting governance
arrangements in the Families and Social Care Directorate. He
thanked Mrs Bridgland for her support
to him as a Cabinet Member and for her massive contribution to the
smooth running of the Committee. He offered his best wishes for
success and happiness in the future.
2. He then
gave an oral update on the following:-
-
Hosted Lunch at Public Health England Event –
work is ongoing on the governance arrangements for Public Health
England.
-
Visited Healthy Living Centre in Dartford
– this is a good hub for active joint working.
-
Attended Public Health National
Conference.
-
Local Government Association Ageing Well Seminar
– supporting older people into healthy and active retirement
is a huge agenda and there is much work ahead.
-
Visited 'Wellbeing Kiosk' in Gravesend – the
public can have their blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and
other aspects tested.
-
Curves Press Event in Gravesend – Curves is
nationwide chain of women-only fitness centres, which in Gravesend
has good links with the BME community.
-
Kent Learning Disability
Partnership Event at Canterbury Christ Church University –
this is always a positive experience, with much enthusiasm from
Partnership members. The Partnership is
chaired by, and meetings and events organised by, people with
learning disabilities.
-
Whole System Demonstrator Technology Launch Event
– this celebrated Kent’s success in reaching its
targets.
-
On 29 March, the County Council discussed the
allocation of Public Health money to local authorities and what
representations the County Council could make to the Department of
Health about the generally low allocations made to South East
authorities, particularly Kent.
3. Mr
Ireland gave an oral update on the following:-
-
Penny Southern has recently been appointed Director
of Learning Disability and Mental Health, having previously filled
the role in an interim capacity. Ms Southern was congratulated on
her appointment.
-
Transformation Programme - stakeholder meetings
– this is a huge piece of work, involving many stakeholders
from various sectors. Stakeholder
meetings have proved very valuable.
-
Re-structuring - Strategic Commissioning –
there will be an extensive consultation process on
this.
-
NHS/Social Care Integration – a joint
appointment has been made in Dover and Thanet; the Head of Service
also manages Community Health provision.
4. In
response to a question about Four Seasons Care Homes, and major
concerns about the company’s financial viability, Mr Ireland
and Mr Lobban assured Members that KCC
has all the information it needs to identify KCC clients placed in
the four homes concerned. Moving a
client who has lived in a home for a long time can be traumatic,
for them and their family, but Mr Lobban said the officer team is confident that
KCC’s experience of dealing with
a similar situation with Southern Cross places them in a good
position to manage the impact effectively.
5. Ms
Peachey gave an oral update on the following:-
- Public
Health Transition - national policy. Public Health England is still
a shadow entity and will appoint an Executive in April 2012. There
is good engagement between Public Health England and the County
Council, but some change to the law is still needed to allow the
County Council to access NHS data.
- Baseline spending estimate allocations for the South East are
low, but the County Council is working with the Primary Care Trusts
to determine the complex spend allocation.
- Sexual
health services workshop for KCC – sexual health is a
statutory service with a large spend of £11m. KCC Members will be invited to attend sexual
health workshops.
- Peer
education drama competition – smoking. This was a good
quality event which demonstrates that peer drama can be effective
in spreading health messages.
- The
Public Health England website cites Kent as a good example of best
practice.
6. In
response to a question about the low funding allocations in the
South East, Ms Peachey explained that each county is assessed
separately rather than being lumped together as a
region. NHS allocations follow
historical patterns, using a formula based on deprivation.
It is hoped that Kent’s allocation will be
increased using the ‘fair shares’ formula.
7. The oral
updates were noted, with thanks.