Minutes:
1. Diane Morton, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, provided a verbal update on the following:
a) Miss Morton announced that it was National No Smoking Day and cited her own personal experience as encouragement for those that smoked to consider quitting.
b) The tender for older people’s nursing and residential care home contracts had closed. Miss Morton was optimistic about the quality of providers and expected a strong framework to go live in mid?summer. She reported that this would be an important step in stabilising the market and addressing costs that remained above the national average.
c) Demand for Blue Badges continued to rise sharply, with over 48,000 applications received in the past year. A significant proportion of demand related to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Miss Morton stressed the importance of clear and detailed supporting evidence at application and renewal stages to enable quicker and more accurate decisions. Support was also available through Kent Connector Support Hubs hosted by District and Borough councils.
d) Members were also informed of proposed national changes to Blue Badge renewals, including extending the standard renewal period to five years and potential changes to the £10 fee, although implementation dates and details were not yet confirmed.
e) Miss Morton summarised a recent letter from Baroness Casey to the Secretary of State which raised serious concerns about repeated failures in adult safeguarding and called for a national safeguarding board, a review of safeguarding legislation, and strengthened national oversight. The letter also highlighted shortcomings in the national response to dementia, calling for dementia to be treated as a clinical priority, and raised issues around motor neurone disease, including a recommendation for a fast?track passport to speed access to support.
f) Miss Morton reported that colleagues from the Local Government Association (LGA) and peers from other authorities had visited to support work on safeguarding and on refreshing the model for the Health and Wellbeing Board, ensuring alignment with the NHS Ten Year Plan, Kent’s priorities, the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the Integrated Care Strategy. A full update would be brought to the Committee once the model was finalised.
g) As the financial year end approached, the forecast for Adult Social Care (ASC) showed stability with a continuing downward trend in the overspend. Miss Morton reminded Members that the overspend had peaked over the previous summer and had since been brought under greater control through spending controls and strategic measures. Risks remained, but progress was documented in quarterly reports to Cabinet.
h) Miss Morton reported that the Adult Social Care and Public Health Performance Indicator Suite had undergone a refresh. The full ASC suite was not yet ready for publication but would be shared once finalised. Work was ongoing to present indicators in a more resident?friendly way, possibly online, by early summer.
i) Miss Morton highlighted the imminent launch of the coastal Marmot Programme in Dover, with Sir Michael Marmot attending. She commended the Public Health team for establishing the first coastal regional Marmot Programme in the country.
2. Dr Anjan Ghosh, Director of Public Health gave a verbal update on the following:
a) Dr Ghosh reported that Public Health had been experiencing a busy and productive period both strategically and operationally. Work was underway to redevelop and re?energise the Health and Wellbeing Board in light of national changes, including the abolition of Integrated Care Partnerships referenced in the NHS Ten Year Plan. A further update would be brought once more detail was available.
b) Dr Ghosh reiterated the importance of the upcoming Marmot launch and highlighted the focus on wider determinants of health and work, including a recent Kent and Medway summit on employment, skills and health, and participation in an LGA and Association of Directors of Public Health conference on the built environment.
c) Members were advised that Kent was a training site for public health consultants, general practitioners (GPs) and other registrars. Work was underway with universities and deans to develop a centre of excellence for Public Health in Kent, and further details would be brought back when available.
d) Dr Ghosh explained that the childhood immunisation schedule had changed from January 2026 with the introduction of an additional chickenpox (varicella) vaccine. The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine had become MMRV with doses at one year and 18 months, followed by a booster at three to four years.
e) The Kent Public Health Observatory had produced an alcohol licensing tool to support public health and licensing authorities in making representations on applications. A set of mental health indicators had also been developed to inform a strategic approach to mental health due to be discussed by the Integrated Care Partnership Board.
f) Work on age?friendly communities continued, with Ashford and Faversham being accepted into the UK Age?Friendly Communities Network, supporting people to age well and live fulfilling later lives.
g) A stroke prevention pilot with partners including the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and a local GP federation was underway in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley, focused on identifying undiagnosed atrial fibrillation and supporting healthier lifestyle choices.
h) Dr Ghosh announced the launch of the “Forever Active” programme, an evolution of the Postural Stability and Falls Prevention Service delivered through Active Kent and Medway. Grants had been awarded to 28 Kent charities, social enterprises and clubs.
i) Work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities had included training around 600 people in culturally competent practice, developing stay and play sessions, closer working with family hubs, and health bus checks for residents who had not previously accessed a GP.
j) Dr Ghosh highlighted that Canterbury Health Alliance had won a Healthwatch award for excellence in integrated working, particularly in relation to a neighbourhood team which had positively impacted health inequalities.
k) Further work was underway within the ASC framework on social prescribing, unpaid carers’ health and wellbeing needs, and data analysis on people living alone. A new sexual health clinic was also due to open at the Discovery Centre in Dover later in March.
3. Sarah Hammond, Interim Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, provided a verbal update on the following:
a) Ms Hammond reported that the Adults’ budget deficit, while still significant at around £45m, had reduced from a projected position close to £60m based on the trajectory in September 2025.
b) The total number of individuals receiving a package of care from ASC had decreased, which Ms Hammond attributed to the growing preventative agenda and earlier community?based support. However, individual costs continued to rise above inflation, which was acknowledged as a concern.
c) Engagement with providers had increased, with evidence of providers wishing to work more closely with the Council on quality and affordability. Ms Hammond held regular discussions with the Chair of the National Association of Care Home Providers and acknowledged that more work was needed to ensure a wider range of provider voices were heard.
d) Work with the ICB and NHS Trusts was underway to address the high number of people admitted to hospital without a treatable or acute medical need, particularly in East Kent. Ms Hammond highlighted concerns that some people were spending their final days in Accident and Emergency (A&E) or leaving hospital with greater levels of need than when admitted. It was agreed with NHS partners that the issue extended beyond discharge pressures, with too many people being admitted to A&E to begin with.
e) Ms Hammond referenced a recent Partners in Care and Health visit funded by Central Government, involving experts from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADAS) and the LGA. Initial feedback was that progress had been made in some areas but that further improvement was needed, particularly in throughput of work. A written report with recommendations was awaited.
f) Ms Hammond outlined six high?level business priorities for 2026?27 for Adult Social Care:
i. Delivering major recommissioning programmes and strengthening market stability, quality and value for money
ii. Developing the workforce and digital infrastructure to support safe, efficient and modern practice
iii. Strengthening practice, safeguarding decision?making and quality assurance including delivering the improvement plan
iv. Managing demand and affordability through better pathways, decision?making and commissioning rather than in?year savings
v. Shifting investment upstream into prevention, enablement, community support and technology?enabled lives
vi. Improving discharge, intermediate care and joint working with health partners to reduce delays and system pressures
g) Ms Hammond informed the Committee that she and Dr Ghosh had submitted statements on behalf of Adults’ and Children’s Social Care to the Manston Inquiry, which was examining overcrowding and poor health outcomes, including a death, at the Manston facility between June and November 2022. The public hearings were expected in November 2026.
4. In response to questions and comments from Members, discussion covered the following:
a) Ms Hammond confirmed that Kent County Council (KCC) and NHS colleagues were in agreement concerning people being admitted to A&E without a treatable medical condition. She explained that anxiety among care home and community providers about supporting people at the end of life was potentially leading to ambulance calls and hospital admissions. Work was underway with the NHS to provide reassurance and support to care providers, including clarifying appropriate responses and avoiding unnecessary admissions where there was no acute medical solution.
b) It was advised that more people were leaving ASC services than starting, which was not unusual in winter but was slightly more pronounced than in previous years. There had also been a slight decrease in requests for care assessments, suggesting that some needs were being met differently or earlier. Miss Morton highlighted that local GP provision had reduced in some areas, increasing barriers to timely healthcare and contributing to avoidable admissions.
c) Ms Hammond confirmed that right to reside patient figures could be provided in a written response outside of the Committee and stated that many of those admitted without a treatable need were already known to ASC, either in residential care or with existing packages.
d) Ms Hammond explained that the data on ambulance conveyances from care homes were being analysed in new ways and historic comparisons were limited. Nevertheless, it was clear that too many residents without acute needs were being admitted to hospital. She explained this was an opportunity for joint work with providers and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), including reviewing training and support, and addressing concerns that inspection expectations may be contributing to defensive referrals.
e) Dr Ghosh explained that Kent commissioned the Institute of Health Equity in October 2025, with the Marmot launch in Dover delayed from its original date. The ten?year Marmot Programme would begin with a focus on work and health and on coastal inequalities, before expanding to all eight Marmot principles across the county. The Dover launch event was designed to build momentum and issue a call to action, featuring contributions from Sir Michael Marmot, the Leader of the Council, Miss Morton and the Chief Executive.
5. RESOLVED that the Adult Social Care and Public Health Cabinet Committee note the verbal updates.