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 Director of Public Health.

1.            Mr G K Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following adult social care issues:

10 February – Spoke at Skillnet Social Value Workshop at Maidstone Salvation Army centre.This had shown what encouraging work was going on to help people back into employment.

25 February – Chaired annual meeting with Kent Age UK Chairs.  This body aimed to help voluntary sector partners to fulfil their vital role in social care provision.

3 March – Attended South Kent Coast Health and Wellbeing Board Development Day in Dover. This board was helping to improve the links between health and social care.

2.            Mr M Lobban then gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Care Quality Commission Consultation on Shaping the Future.  This important consultation had closed on 4 March and a Member briefing on the outcomes would be prepared shortly.  The consultation was for officers at this stage, and aimed to identify and shape the questions which would be included in the later stage, at which time Members would be engaged and be able to have input.

Visit to Queens House. Here he had met staff in the adult social care and specialist children’s services teams.

Attended Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) Policy Event.Further details of the issues covered at this event would be available for this committee’s 10 May meeting.

Winter Pressures.As reported to the January meeting, pressures over the Christmas period had been light but had increased as the weather had grown colder in the new year.  Adult Social Care staff had been in attendance at hospitals to do all they could to facilitate timely discharges. While there had been some increase in the overall number of delayed transfers from hospital, the number of delays attributable to social care causes had decreased.

3.            Mr G K Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following adult public health issues:

3 February – Attended Local Government Association Annual Public Health Conference in London.  There had been good input into an item about preventing suicide and Kent’s approach had been cited as a good example. 

23 February – Spoke at the Arts in Recovery Festival Launch at Sessions House. It had been encouraging to see the role that arts could play in helping those with substance misuse issues to recover.

Supporting Public Health work.  Member grant money left over at the end of the financial year could be used to support various Public Health initiatives. Members who had spare funds and wished to use them for this purpose were encouraged to contact the Public Health team.

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

Chaired workshop on Illicit Tobacco, at which Public Health and Trading Standards colleagues had discussed how joint working would address the issue of illicit tobacco coming into, and circulating within, the county.   

Attended Local Government Association/Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) conference, this had included an excellent workshop on mental health, for which he expressed his appreciation to the team involved.

Attended Chief Medical Officer/Directors of Public Health development day.  This had discussed current key Public Health issues, including antibiotics, childhood obesity and smoking.

Attended round-table meeting on Tobacco Control with the Minister of Public Health.It was hope that a tobacco control strategy would soon be ready to publish.

Appointed representative of the Association of Directors of Public Health for the South East.Mr Scott-Clark received congratulations from Members on this appointment.

5.            RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.