Agenda and draft minutes

No Declarations of Interest.

No urgent matters.

To receive minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 25th February, 2016 (copy attached).

The Minutes of a Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday 25 February, 2016 were submitted.

Matters arising:-

Page 4 – Item 5 – Development of a Community Hospital in Rhyl.

The Corporate Director: Communities updated the Committee following a visit from the Health Minister at which the Principal Manager (Operational Services) had been present.  Concerns which had been raised by Partnerships Committee were put forward to the Health Minister who confirmed that the Welsh Government was committed to the development of the Community Hospital in Rhyl.

It was confirmed that representatives from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) would attend Partnerships Scrutiny Committee on 7 July 2016.

RESOLVED that subject to the above, the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record. 

To consider a report by the Older People’s Strategy Development Officer and Service Manager – Communities & Wellbeing (copy attached) for Members to consider the findings and recommendations and endorse the need for a corporate approach to implementing its recommendations through the range of actions as listed in the Action Plan.

                                                                                      9.35 a.m. – 10.10 a.m.

The Lead Member for Social Care (Adult & Children’s Services) introduced the report (previously circulated) for Members to consider the findings and recommendations of the Supporting the Independence of Older People – Wales Audit Office Report. 

The Lead Member emphasised the importance for Local Authorities across Wales to support prevention services to aid the independence of older people. 

Attached at Appendix 1 of the report had been the Council’s Action Plan for progressing the recommendations. Officers and the Lead Member informed Members that the study highlighted:

·       the fact that there was a need for Local Authorities to take a co-ordinated corporate approach towards supporting the independence of older people, not solely rely on health and social care services

·       acknowledged the severe financial constraints that restricted Local Authorities from providing certain advisory and non-statutory support services.

The Committee were advised that:

·       the third sector in Denbighshire did receive grant funding from the Council to enable it to deliver advisory and support work.  Contracts with the third sector specified that a condition of the grant funding was that they delivered services which did support independence.  To date, this had proved very effective

·       the Single Point of Access (SPoA) service was a key driver of the Council’s aim of improving access to advice and information

·       an Ageing Well Plan had been developed

·       “Talking Points”, had been established, which aimed to reach out to people within their communities, preventing referrals to Social Services

·       the focus of social care services was being changed from a reactive/intervention service to being a more proactive preventative service in line with the requirements of the Social Service and Well-being (Wales) Act

·       work was now underway to develop a “Supporting Independence in Denbighshire Strategy”, which would comply with the vision set out in the Dublin Declaration on Age-Friendly Cities and Communities – to which the Council was a signatory.

Responding to Members’ questions, the Lead Member and officers advised that:

·       at present a substantial part of the funding for the SPoA Service came via the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) grant.  The grant funding tended to be rather piecemeal and was awarded on an annual basis, which made it very difficult to plan for the medium to long-term

·       Denbighshire was already delivering a lot of the support and adopting the corporate approach aspired to in the report, as part of its day to day business

·       the Council had been in discussion with Conwy County Borough Council with a view to potentially appoint the vacant Older People’s Strategy Development Officer post on a joint/shared basis

·       work was underway to embed the concept of Denbighshire County Council being a dementia friendly council into council services day to day work and service planning.  St. Asaph had recently been awarded the status of being the first Dementia Friendly City in North Wales.  Ruthin Rotary Club were at present keen to do more work around dementia friendly communities.  The “Talking Points” initiative had been an ideal vehicle for communities, both rural and urban, to develop into dementia friendly communities.

Members felt that libraries were ideally placed and located to be developed into community hubs where both young and old could socialise with a view to eliminating loneliness, social isolation and consequently supporting health and well-being.

Members asked that they be circulated a link to Denbighshire’s Ageing Well Plan.

RESOLVED that:-

(i)              subject to the above observations and comments, to endorse the need for a corporate approach to implementing the recommendations through the range of actions listed in the Action Plan (Appendix 1)

(ii)             that the Older People Reference Group, which already has responsibility for implementing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

At this juncture (10.10 a.m.) there was a 10 minute break.

The meeting reconvened at 10.20 a.m.

To consider a report by the Service Manager: North Locality (copy attached) to update Members on progress of the implementation of Denbighshire’s Single Point of Access for Adult Social Care and Community Health Services  

                                                                                    10.20 a.m. – 10.55 a.m.

The Lead Member for Social Care (Adults and Children’s Services) introduced the report (previously circulated) to provide members with current information about the Single Point of Access (SPoA) in Denbighshire.

The Lead Member confirmed that the single telephone number for access to Health and Social Care Services had been in operation since 2014. 

The Welsh Government Minister for Health and Social Services had recently made specific mention of Denbighshire’s Single Point of Access (SPoA) service during the launch of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act at the Senedd.

The Lead Member and Officers advised that:

·       at a meeting the previous day with representatives from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) confirmation had been received that funding was now in place for the Service for the 2016/17 financial year

·       the Service cost in the region of £660k per annum, the majority of which was funded via the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) Grant which was awarded on an annual basis

·       now that the new locality structures were in place within the Health Board, relevant representatives would be in attendance at meetings discussing joint and collaborative working to enable the work to progress and develop further

·       the SPoA approach was now deemed to be very much day to day business in the Denbighshire area and the county was ahead of other Local Authority areas with this approach, which complied with the requirements of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act requirements.  Nevertheless, there was always room for improvement and, therefore, work was currently underway in a bid to consolidate and improve the service.  More work was required in order to integrate all health and social care support services available via SPoA

·       the Service operated on a structure of a single Team Leader, supported by 9 SPoA operators (4 of whom were Welsh speaking, and another 4 who were learning the language).  The team were now able to offer a bi-lingual seven day service.  There was also a third sector co-ordinator and co-ordinators who specialised in specific areas e.g. falls, carers, Talking Points, adaptations etc.

·       whilst the SPoA service operated on a seven day basis, weekends were not as busy as weekdays, therefore, staffing at the weekend usually consisted of one SPoA operator supported by a District Nurse.  As a result of the lower volume of telephone enquiries at the weekend, staff were able to process any service requests received from hospitals to avoid any backlog of work

·       at present the Denbighshire SPoA was the only one in North Wales that offered access to the Community Nursing Service

·       the Service was more than willing to explore the feasibility of working with any service that expressed an interest in working with it

·       the Service was based in the Council’s Brighton Road offices in Rhyl but confirmation was awaited on where the Service would be located when the Brighton Road offices were vacated.  However, the long-term plan was that the Service would eventually be permanently located at the re-developed Royal Alexandra Hospital site in Rhyl.

Responding to Members’ questions officers advised that:

·       all GP surgeries had been visited at least twice and advised of the SPoA service and information had been left at the surgeries for the attention of  members of the public.  GP surgeries could be visited again to remind them of the Service and elected Members were also requested to remind surgeries in their areas of the Service’s existence and what it could offer to patients

·       the Healthy Prestatyn Iach Centre would, in due course, be a “health hub” which could help to promote the SPoA Service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy attached) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating Members on relevant issues.

                                                                                    10.55 a.m. – 11.05 a.m.

A copy of a report by the Scrutiny Co-ordinator, which requested the Committee to review and agree its Forward Work Programme and provided an update on relevant issues, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

A copy of the “Member’s proposal form” template had been included at Appendix 2, Cabinet’s Forward Work Programme had been included as Appendix 3, and a table summarising recent Committee resolutions and advising on progress with their implementation had been attached at Appendix 4.

The Committee considered its draft Forward Work Programme for future meetings, Appendix 1, and the following were agreed:-

26 May, 2016:-

West Rhyl Housing Improvement Project – Members agreed to a pre-meeeting taking place at 9.00 a.m. followed by the full Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting to commence at 9.30 a.m.

The following representatives were expected to be in attendance:

·       Graham Worthington, Clwyd Alyn Housing Association

·       Peter James and Carole Weller, Welsh Government

Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group were to meet on Thursday 21 April 2016 from which further items for future meetings could be put forward.

As the next Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting would be the first meeting following Annual Council on 10 May, the Committee would be expected to appoint its Vice-Chair at that meeting.  Individuals interested in the role were asked to forward their CV to the Scrutiny Co-ordinator ahead of that meeting.  Councillor Raymond Bartley expressed an interest in being nominated as Vice-Chair.

RESOLVED that subject to the above, the Work Programme as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups.

                                                                                     11.05 a.m. – 11.25 a.m.

None.

The meeting concluded at 10.50 a.m.