Agenda item

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance formally presenting the final report of the Residential and Care Homes Working Group.

The Committee had established the Working Group at its meeting on 28 June 2016 and the Final Report of the Working Group was attached to the report.

Terms of reference for the Working Group had been as follows:-

• Current and future population needs, demand and market supply;
• The Council’s “market shaping” duties;
• Key risks within the market in relation to meeting the needs of all people in Sefton who need care and support (whether arranged or funded by the state, by the individuals themselves, or in other ways); and
• Recommendations to shape Sefton’s approach to commissioning services and shaping the local market in the future.

There were no financial implications arising for the Council as a direct result of the report. However, if consideration was being given to the gross payment of Providers, as opposed to net of Service User financial contributions for care placements, then the financial implications of doing so would need to be considered as it would potentially increase the risk of bad debts to the Council.

Councillor Linda Cluskey, Lead Member of the Working Group, presented the Working Group’s Final Report to the Committee and thanked the other Members of the Working Group and appropriate officers. Tribute was paid to Councillor Cluskey for her role in continuing to lead the Working Group under difficult personal circumstances.

Members of the Committee asked questions/raised matters on the following issues:-

·         Inspection of residential and care homes - Reference was made to the fact that Members of the Council used to visit residential and care homes as part of their role some years previously and that this role should be revived. – Members had been requested to make visits to inspect Council-run homes in the past. The Council no longer operated any such homes and it did not have the powers to permit elected Members to visit private homes in an inspection capacity. The Care Quality Commission’s role was to monitor, inspect and regulate care homes. Healthwatch had “Enter and View” powers and could undertake unannounced visits to residential and care homes, if considered necessary. A small number of officers within the Council’s Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence Department undertook visits to homes and any concerns could be raised with them.

·         The social care system was struggling to cope with demands, not just in terms of insufficient finances, and greater integration was required.

The Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care thanked Working Group Members for the work undertaken and referred to the challenges facing the care sector, together with joint working initiatives being undertaken across the City Region to address some of the issues concerned.

The Chief Officer for NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), was pleased that the Working Group had acknowledged the on-going joint working between the CCGs and the Council, particularly with respect to joint quality, safeguarding and monitoring, and undertook to continue to support that work.

The Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care suggested amending the wording for the Working Group’s recommendation 1(h) as he did not consider that it currently accurately reflected the decision made by the Cabinet on 7 September 2017.

RESOLVED: That

Subject to the amendment of recommendation 1(h), the recommendations of the Residential and Care Homes Working Group be supported and commended to the Cabinet, as follows:-

1.         the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence be requested to:-

(a)       consider proposals for fee levels, both in the current and next two financial years, in order to provide more stability for Providers with the proviso that such proposals are made within available resources and in line with previously agreed delegations in relation to the setting of Adult Social Care fees;

(b)       give further consideration to paying Providers gross, as opposed to net of Service User financial contributions, for care placements;

(c)        establish a strategic group consisting of Adult Social Care and Commissioning officers, Providers and interest groups to:

(i)         assess future demands and needs, including those relating to other service areas such as Extra Care housing;

(ii)        ensure co-operative and collaborative working takes place;

(iii)       share good practice; and

(iv)       ensure that “working in silos” does not occur;

(d)       ensure joint working is continued between Commissioning, Adult Social Care and the Sefton Clinical Commissioning Groups, particularly with respect to joint quality, safeguarding and monitoring of services;

(e)       explore the potential to implement revised methods of monitoring care home services, including the use of Information Technology to record quality, performance and market capacity information;

(f)        continue to work as part of the Liverpool City Region to standardise approaches to information sharing, monitoring and contractual approaches;

(g)       continue to seek information from Providers, such as details of costs and charges, in order for the Council to better understand the care home market;

(h)       implement the decision to deliver the Quality Assurance Service, as approved by the Cabinet at its meeting on 7 September 2017;

(i)         continue to monitor and revise procedures, as necessary, relating to issues such as home closures, in order to improve working practices and implement any lessons learnt;

(j)         review documentation given to Service Users, Families, Carers and Advocates on topics such as paying, charging for services and needs assessment processes; and

(2)       the Senior Democratic Services Officer be requested to liaise with relevant officers in order to ensure that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Adult Social Care and Health) receives a six-monthly monitoring report, setting out progress made against each of the recommendations outlined above.