Agenda item

To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, the Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing and the Interim Director of Public Health.

1.            Mr G K Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following issues:-

Residential Care Contract – 16 July

Older Persons Nursing tender stage one analysis guide price recommendation

Home Support Fund Policy

15 July - Presented at the Capita ‘Delivering Dilnot’Conference in London

16 July - Presented at the Kent Care Workforce Summit in Ashford

30 July - Visited Age UK in Canterbury

02 September - Spoke at the Learning Disability Partnership Awards at Sessions House – other Members added that they had attended similar awards events in their local areas and had found the experience enlightening.  Members were encouraged to become involved in their local learning disability partnerships.

12 September - Attended the Kent ‘Forget Me Nots’ Dementia Group Meeting – this had been the first such event for Kent and had been well received as a way of exploring how to live well with Dementia.  He would like to repeat the event in future years.

He added that he would be happy to receive from any Member suggestions of how to reduce the volume of papers produced for the meeting and any request from a Member for him to visit any Adult Social Care premises in the county.

2.         Mr A Ireland then gave a verbal update on the following issues:-

Mobilisation of new home care contract – this was progressing well and was encouraging more people to take up a direct payment.

Care Act Stocktake – this Department of Health initiative had started on 22 September. The Directorate was up to date with all key milestones.  Following the stocktake, it would be possible to see a national picture of implementation of the Act. 

Private and Voluntary sector home closures – he praised the excellent efforts of the staff of the two homes concerned in moving more than 60 elderly residents at short notice when the homes were forced to close. The impact of the two closures on the number of care places available locally would be monitored.

Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Board Annual Report.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards – this was a national issue, arising from a recent judgement in Cheshire.

Members asked how much information about the home closures could be shared with them and Mr Lobban undertook to respond to the questioners outside the meeting.

3.            Mr G K Gibbens then gave a verbal update on the following issues:-

Contract Award for Kent Community Infant Feeding Service

10 July - Attended Mental Health Engagement event for Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley, Swale & West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Areas in Lenham

15 July - Attended the Local Government Association Physical Activity Senior Leadership Forum in London – ‘keep active’ initiatives were targeted particularly at young women and older people.

17 September - Presented at the Public Health England Conference in Warwick  - he congratulated the public health team on the positive feedback that had come from this event and said that some of the public health initiatives being championed in Kent were being copied by other local authorities.

15 October 2014 seminar by Professor Chris Bentley on Health Inequalities – Members were given the details of this event and encouraged to attend.

4.            Mr A Scott-Clark then gave a verbal update on the following issues:-

Health Checks success

Sexual Health services non-award, and retender – contracts had not been awarded for two of the seven lots – contraception and sexual health (CASH)/genito-urinary medicine (GUM)/HIV and young people’s services – as no bids had met the specification, so for these parts of the service the market would be re-tried. An update on the issue would be reported to the Committee’s December meeting.

Flu campaign

Kent Housing Group Conference

Public Health England Conference

He responded to a question about the target for the number of health checks undertaken and explained that, although he did not want to get too focussed on numerical targets, Kent could aim to raise its uptake rate as high as possible, and could aim to reach beyond the national target of 75%.

5.            RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.