Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

There were no declarations of interest or whipping declarations.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2014 were approved as an accurate record.

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 requests for Call-in to consider.

The Assistant Cohesion Manager introduced the report which provided the Commission with an overview report detailing the outcomes from the Joint Scrutiny in a Day event held on 17 January 2014 which looked at understanding and managing the impacts of welfare reform on communities in Peterborough.

Observations and questions were raised and discussed including:

·         Members asked how the recommendations within the report would be delivered.   The Assistant Cohesion Manager responded that if members decide that the outcomes were the right ones to develop then officers would work them up into a detailed work plan which would then be presented to the committee throughout the year.

·         The Chair informed the Committee that the recommendations listed within the report under the Scrutiny Commission for Health Issues were recommendations that were considered to be important for the Commission by those who had attended the event.

ACTION AGREED

The Committee noted the report and approved the recommendations. The recommendations would be taken forward and included in the work programme next year.

The report was introduced by the Chief Clinical Officer and provided the Commission with an opportunity to discuss consultation proposals to improve older people’s healthcare and adult social community services.

Observations and questions were raised and discussed including:

·         Members referred to page 86 of the agenda pack which was appendix (i) of the consultation document listing the proposed public meetings. Members expressed concern at the lack of public consultations taking place in Peterborough and the chosen locations of the Fleet and the Cathedral and asked why those locations had been chosen. The Director, Corporate Affairs responded that the meetings listed  were the formal ones however there had been many other invitations issued to organisations asking if they would like the CCG to visit them during the consultation. Approximately 120 pre consultation meetings, had already taken place, many of which were in Peterborough. These meetings were generally more successful in terms of feedback and turnout. The CCG were happy to go and meet people in a location of their choice and invited members to let them know if they had neighbourhood meetings which they would like the CCG to attend.

·         Members referred to page 69 of the agenda pack which was the message from the NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough CCG’s Chief Clinical Officer and Lay Chair.  Part of the message stated “current services are not joined up”.  Members wanted to know what was being done to ensure that services would be joined up. The Chief Clinical Officer responded that the essence of the work was to try and get to a position where there was a single responsible provider organisation which would co-ordinate how health services were delivered for patients. There had been investment in many parts of the work which was now being pulled together and built upon.

·         Members asked how this would therefore fit into other health organisations. The Chief Clinical Officer responded that some of the bidders had discussed single points of access for when patients were unwell. For example, when a patient goes to hospital the GP is unable to look at continued care until the GP receives a discharge summary which was not an ideal situation. One of the aims was therefore to have one person overseeing care for all instances to ensure continuity of care.

·         Members expressed concern at how the rural wards would be reached during the consultation.  The Director, Corporate Affairs responded that there was an attempt to go out and visit these rural areas.  They were also using media like the radio and publishing.   There was also a program in place called Browse Aloud on the CCG website where the documents could be read to individuals if they were having difficulty accessing events and where their views could be heard. Members were invited to publicise the consultation in their ward and parish magazines.  The Director, Corporate Affairs offered to provide an article for publication in the magazines.

·         Members suggested that Parish Council meetings would be a good place to inform people of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care presented the report which provided the Commission with an overview of the work of the Adult Social Care department two years post-transfer back from the NHS.  The report  covered key performance, transformation plans, major commissioning activity and financial management.

Observations and questions were raised and discussed including:

·         Members referred to the update on the dementia action plan and sought clarification as to the opening date of the Dementia Centre and wanted to know if the cafés would be open at the same time.  Members had understood that the Dementia Centre had been scheduled to open in February.  The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care responded that the date originally proposed for the Dementia Centre in February had not been a firm date and it was originally expected to be open around spring time. However, contractors were currently on site and the delivery of the centre was roughly two months behind and could be expected to open around early summer. He also stated that artist plans for the site were available and could be circulated. Members were informed that there was included in the Dementia Centre Plan a dementia café.  There were also broader plans for cafés at other sites like the museum and library.

·         Members asked if the July date for the dementia centre could be confirmed. They also asked when the 20 cafés would be built. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care reiterated that the February date was initially not certain. There might be unexpected occurrences in the building of the centre, however the plan was for the centre to be built by July. With regards to the cafés he stated that there were no plans to put 20 cafés in place but the situation was about what was realistically achievable. The aspirational aim was to develop hubs where people could meet and feel safe and these could be called cafés.

·         Members stated that it would be useful for Members to visit the centre when it was near completion. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care responded that this was a good idea so that members could get a visual feel for the building. In the meantime, the artist’s computer representations could be circulated.

·         Members stated that the Staff Excellence Awards Scheme could potentially demoralise employees who never feel that they can receive the award. The Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health and Wellbeing responded that the scheme was a council wide scheme but that it was important to acknowledge good practice when it was shown. Whole teams could be put forward for a Staff Excellence Award and the scheme was about providing employees with support and confidence and recognising good skills.

·         Members asked what the cafés would be like. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care responded that the cafés would be informal hubs where people could pop in for refreshments and help and advice, these hubs might also be used by other groups who might benefit.

·         Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Assistant Director Quality, Information and Performance introduced the report which provided the Commission with a summary of performance delivery against the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) and the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF). It provided an overview of progress against key projects to achieve the outcomes and performance information to illustrate the current position as at the end of December 2013 (Quarter 3).

Observations and questions were raised and discussed including:

·         The Assistant Director Quality, Information and Performance noted that the prevalence of smoking in Peterborough indicated as amber in the Health Improvement Programme was a reflection that Peterborough was at or near the national average which was an improvement as Peterborough normally had a higher prevalence of smoking than the national average.

·         Members asked if there had been an increase in smoking due to the changing population in Peterborough.  Members were informed that smoking had actually decreased and the issues with smoking had been linked back to the population expansion during the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s when Peterborough expanded with a large intake of skilled manual workers in the manufacturing industry.

·         Members referred to page 33, Priority 1: Enhancing quality of life for people with care and support needs graph.  Members noted that the trend was downwards and that in key milestones there had been a slippage. They therefore asked if the trend was going down as a consequence of the delays in the milestones and what was the plan of action to change this trend. The Assistant Director Quality, Information and Performance responded that the downward trend had been due to a change in the denominator rather than the numerator.  The number of people in residential care had not gone down but the number of people overall had. There was a potential impact around slippage in the transformation programme however that was a long-term aspect and plans for moving on of people with learning disabilities in to community based locations would take place by 2015 rather than currently. The part that had taken longer than planned was the transformation of social work services.

·         Members referred to page 134: Priority 2: Delaying and reducing the need for care and support.  Members noted the fall in the number of people still at home after 91 days after discharge and noted a downward trend. What was being done to address the situation? The Assistant Director Quality, Information and Performance responded that there had been a deterioration in the last quarter however work was being undertaken with Health colleagues around the Better Care Fund, particularly intermediate care for more complex cases and reablement services. It was important to ensure that the services were joined up and the right Health inputs went into both services at the right times.

·         Members asked if there were enough staff. The Assistant Director Quality, Information and Performance responded that low staff was not a reason for deterioration of intermediate care but it might be being used as a step-down from hospital and there might be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Commission received the latest version of the Forward Plan of  Key Decisions, containing key decisions that the Leader of the Council anticipated the Cabinet or individual Cabinet Members would make during the course of the following four months.  Members were invited to comment on the Forward Plan of Key Decisions and, where appropriate, identify any relevant areas for inclusion in the Commission’s work programme.

ACTION AGREED

The Commission noted the Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

The Senior Governance Officer introduced the report which provided a list of items to be considered for the work programme next year.

ACTION AGREED

The Commission noted the report and agreed to have an agenda planning meeting before the next municipal year to look at the list provided in order to put a focused work programme in place for 2014/2015.

The Commission agreed that the Outcome of the Older Peoples Programme Procurement exercise should be brought before the Commission when appropriate in the next municipal year.

The meeting began at 7.00pm and finished at 8.34pm