Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Fower and Nash. Councillor Sandford attended as substitute for Councillor Fower.

At this point Members must declare whether they have an interest, whether personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda. Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

There were no declarations.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2009 were approved.

The decision notice for each decision will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision may then be implemented on the expiry of 3 working days after the publication of the decision (not including the date of publication), unless a request for call-in of the decision is received from any two Members of a Scrutiny Committee or Scrutiny Commissions..  If a request for call-in of a decision is received, implementation of the decision remains suspended for consideration by the relevant Scrutiny Committee or Commission.

There were no call in requests to consider.

The Safe Sharps Disposal Pilot planned the placement of special bins for injecting equipment and other sharp implements in public places to reduce the risk of injury and potential transmission of blood borne viruses to members of the public.

At its meeting in September 2009, members of the Commission had been advised that following successful identification of potential sites and the bins having been purchased, the project was being passed to the Neighbourhood Management team in order to ensure appropriate consultation and agreement for installation of the bins. The Commission considered the timetable for installation, review and evaluation of the project which showed that one bin had now been installed, and that others were to be installed following consultation with relevant agencies to ensure they were placed in the areas of most need. The timetable showed that the installation of all bins was scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2009.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

·       Where is the installed bin located, how will consultations be carried out and how will users be told where the bins are?

·       The officer leading the project has taken the decision not to make the public aware of the locations of the bins as we don’t want them targeted in any way. We are in close consultation with the drugs agencies who will market information about the bins to users.

·       Will the bins be safe for diabetics to use?

·       The bins are very safe and there is no risk of injury. However we are aware that most diabetics have their own sharps bins. We need to be careful not to further stigmatise drugs users; the feedback we have is that they may be put off using the bins if the public are aware of the bins and can see them being used.

·       There have been problems with sharp disposal in public areas and the bins will help protect the public from injury. It is important to get the message across that this is a safeguarding issue and not something which is encouraging drug use.

·       Will all bins be installed by the target date?

·       We have been assured that they will be in place by 26 November.

·       How often will the bins be emptied?

·       We are currently working with Peterborough City Services on how frequently the bins need to emptied.

ACTION AGREED

The Commission agreed that a further update on progress be presented to the next meeting.

In June 2009 the Commission had held a briefing session to discuss the programme of work for the coming year and how it could effectively carry out its role in scrutinising the provision of health and adult social care services. It was decided at that meeting to identify an area of work within which there would be a number of issues which could be scrutinised in depth. Members agreed that the area of work to be looked at would be coronary heart disease.

Officers from NHS Peterborough gave a presentation which included an overview of the current situation and which highlighted areas on which more focus would be helpful.

Members discussed the facilities available in the area compared to similar areas, including the fact that we currently have a specialist commitment with Papworth Hospital and that the new hospital due to open in 2010 will have specialist facilities. A new scheme of providing vascular checks had recently been introduced and members were given details.

 There was a lengthy debate on the advantage of education as a means of reducing smoking and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Although some education was already being provided the PCT was looking to focus on certain more deprived areas of the city to a greater extent.     

ACTION AGREED

The Commission agreed to carry out a major review on the prevention of smoking and obesity, including education and the promotion of exercise, focusing on the Council’s services and how they impact on the issue. 

An inspection of the Adult Social Care department had taken place in January 2009 and the report had been published on 3 August 2009.  Following the inspection, an action plan to address the inspection recommendations had been drawn up. Key aspects included:

·        Safeguarding – the actions were extracted from a comprehensive three year action plan overseen by the Peterborough Adult Safeguarding Board.

·        Carers – a new strategy and action plan was in place and progress in this area was good.

·        Self-directed support – key milestones this year had been met and the number of individual budgets was increasing.  This marked a significant shift in how services were delivered and would achieve a step change in delivering more personalised services in line with the strategy.

·        User involvement, information and advice – a number of recommendations related to this theme and work was on-going in a number of areas.

·        Services for people with physical disabilities and sensory needs – a number of recommendations had been made and work was being progressed.

The following question was raised and response given:

·       One of the amber areas is to increase the knowledge and expertise of social marketing techniques within the communication team and PCT staff by May 2008 – why has no progress been made?

·       This is an area that will need external expertise and we will need to look carefully at when it can be done and at the cost implications.

ACTION AGREED

The Commission noted the report and agreed that future inspection action plan reports will be included within the regular performance monitoring reports.

The Commission received a report on the previous quarter which showed the safeguarding alerts since the last report along with information on the number of cases and the outcomes.

Points of note included:

·      Hospital referrals had increased.

·      A high proportion of financial abuse, showing increased awareness amongst care staff, financial assessment officers and carers.

At its meeting on 14 August 2009, the Safeguarding Board had discussed a new vetting and barring scheme and the establishment of a budget to secure an officer who would support, manage and develop the board, along with a number of additional safeguards, including:

§         replacing the current Government lists under the Protection of Children's Act (PoCA), Protection of Vulnerable Adults Act (PoVA) and List 99. I

§         the introduction of barring from regulated activities. 

§         placing a new duty to share information. 

§         Introduction of new criminal offences from November 2010. .

The Commission also received details of safeguarding training provided in the period 1 June 2009 – 31 August 2009.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

·           The report shows that of 122 alerts only 9 validations were upheld – does this show that most allegations are false?

·           Yes, we are looking at a partial dataset; some allegations are not concluded and some are not counted.

·           Are there any implications of the new vetting and barring scheme?

·           Yes, there are practical consideration in the approach an organisation takes towards new staff. There is the expectation that people seeking employment will be registered at their own cost. For existing staff there will be a checking cost.

·           There has been some coverage of the vetting and barring scheme in the press – are the measures proportionate?

·           There have been discussions around certain aspects of the scheme and the Government commissioned a review of some components of the scheme around a proportionate response. There are no changes anticipated to our arrangements.

·           There can be abuse caused by a poorly trained carer, particularly with dementia patients.

·           That is a good point and is reflected in the report. Often this can be physical injury caused in a residential setting by lifting or handling and often reveals a shortcoming in training.

ACTION AGREED

The Commission noted the report and agreed that future updates should include comparisons with the previous quarter.

The key outcomes and targets for delivery for adult social care were agreed annually between the Council and the PCT and incorporated into the Annual Accountability Agreement.  The Commission received a report on progress against those outcomes and targets.

Of the 18 key objectives set within the Annual Accountability Agreement, 13 were currently on target for delivery and rated green, and five were rated amber.   There were no red rated objectives. The amber rated objectives, issues and actions were summarised.

Of the 13 national CAA targets, five were currently rated red.  Of these, two were performing below target and the comparator average for 2008-09, two had missing data, and one was performing below target but was above the comparator average for 2008-09. The red CAA targets along with actions were summarised.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

·       There seem to be major problems with the Mental Health Trust – have they been invited to attend this meeting?

·       The Mental Health Trust received standing invitations to attend our meetings. It is helpful to flag up the Commission’s concerns – they will be escalated within the Primary Care Trust and the Mental Health Trust.

·       What are the implications if we fail to hit our targets?

·       The National Indicators are aligned to the Local Area Agreement and to the social care performance assessment. The Mental Health aspect is a small part of the overall picture. The LAA targets have financial implications.

ACTION AGREED

The Commission noted the report.

The Commission received the Council’s Forward Plan which outlined forthcoming Executive Decisions for the period November 2009 to February 2010.

ACTION AGREED

The Panel noted the report.

The Commission approved the current work programme.

Tuesday 12 January 2010.