Agenda item

This annual report provides an account of the role of the Deputy Leader of the Council, who has responsibility for Adult Social Care and Public Health. It details their ambitions for their areas of responsibility, how they have and will undertake political challenge and leadership and what their priorities and ambitions are for the year ahead.

Discussion:

The Deputy Leader of the Council introduced her report which set out the ambitions, achievements and challenges relating to the services that fell within her portfolio, particularly highlighting the Adult Social Care (ASC) workforce rightsizing, Public Health research collaboration, Marmot Place status and the James Williams Healthy Living Centre.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·       Pharmacy provision – in response to a question about pharmacy provision and the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA), the Deputy Leader explained that the development of a PNA was a statutory function of Health and Wellbeing Boards, of which she was the Chairperson and the standards and framework in which the PNA operated was nationally set.  She shared the frustrations relating to provision in Rainham but explained that due to current legislation, the PNA was very limited in what it could and could not take into account.  She added that the MP for Gillingham and Rainham was sighted on the issue and would be lobbying the Department for Health and the Health Secretary to update the regulations to ensure that PNAs could take into account the day to day accessibility of provision, particularly for those with protected characteristics.

·       Mental Health – reference was made to the increase in demand for mental health services and the increase in funding that this rise in scale and complexity of need had required.  Officers undertook to provide a briefing note to demonstrate detailed data regarding the increase in demand.  The Deputy Leader explained that the increase in expenditure was still not sufficient to meet need and that ASC had seen an increase in people being deemed medically fit for discharge whose needs were in fact very significant and complex. Therefore, there was a need to be robust and push back to partners where ASC were unable to meet an individual’s needs.

·       Direct payments (DPs) – in response to a question regarding the uptake of DPs, the Deputy Leader explained that the Council was still below its target but there were often good reasons for people to choose not to accept DPs and so although the option would continue to be promoted, it would never be forced onto clients.

·       Impact of winter fuel changes – in response to a question about how pensioners in Medway had been impacted by the Government’s decision the previous year in relation to the winter fuel allowance, the Deputy Leader explained that following its announcement, the Council provided substantial support to raise awareness for those eligible to claim pension credit and provided a £200 grant to those poorest households that did not qualify for pension credit through the Household Support Fund.

·       ASC Rightsizing – in response to a question about the impact of the rightsizing of the ASC workforce the Deputy Leader explained that the increase in staffing had restored levels back to where they had been before previous structural changes, but that demand would continue to rise as would the need for staff. However, the addition of over 80 staff had enabled service standards to be improved and had brought a refresh to professional practice. In addition, the number of locums continued to fall as more opted for permanent positions.  Officers undertook to provide the figures of locums and permanent staff within ASC.

·       Communication – reference was made to a report elsewhere on the agenda relating to social care complaints and the largest number of complaints had related to a lack of communication. The Deputy Leader explained that this was an area of focus for the service.  The use of software called Magic Notes had enabled practitioners to record and pre-fill assessments which made the assessments more personable and saved social workers an average of 5 hours per week. In addition, other options were being explored such as the use of a digital portal so service users could at least track the stage at which their assessment was at.

·       Care for Medway – reference was made to the Care for Medway project which proposed for Medway to build its own care home, a mix of assessment and residential beds. The Deputy Leader stated the importance of the project, if approved by Full Council, to provide an innovative and modern facility that would disrupt the market and enable the Council to take back control of the care for its residents, set high standards and to also protect the Council against the difficulties faced when a provider fails or closes.

·       Falls Prevention Service – comment was made to the importance of the service.  The Deputy Leader shared the view that it was a critical service and PH intelligence was being used to help better identify and target vulnerable people. Evidence showed that 40% of all falls in Medway occurred within the Chatham Central and Brompton Ward and work was underway to understand why that was the case to assist with prevention.

·       A day in the life – suggestion was made that “a day in the life” film should be developed to contextualise the reality of being a social worker within the ASC sector. The Deputy Leader welcomed this idea as a way of sharing perspectives and understanding amongst the partners with which services work.

·       Beside You – reference was made to the Beside You campaign which supported families with breastfeeding. The Deputy Leader commented on how proud she was of the work that had been undertaken on the campaign and commented that an area that would benefit from focus going forward would be providing support and advice on healthy conception and pregnancy.

·       Marmot Place – in response to a question about Medway being a Marmot Place and the impact of this, the Deputy Leader explained that Medway had already recognised health inequalities and the importance of addressing them, but Marmot enabled Medway to access different resources, learning and ideas. One key area of focus was addressing young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) and work was taking place with partners to support those disadvantaged young people with wrap around support. The James Williams Healthy Living Centre would provide additional opportunity to provide such cohesive support. 

·       Carers – in response to a comment about carers the Deputy Leader recognised the invaluable impact carers had in supporting those requiring help. She referred to the carers passport that had been put in place and other support available for carers for those that did choose to come forward but recognised more could and should be done to promote he support and services available and to encourage carers to come forward.

·       Relationship with the health partners – in response to a question about the relationship the Deputy leader had with the key health partners in Medway, she explained that relationships were robust and the ambition of working together to make a positive difference for the people of Medway remained.  She welcomed the challenge that the Committee had been providing on health related issues. 

Decision:

a)    The Committee noted the report and thanked the Deputy Leader for her attendance.

b)    The Committee recommended officers to consider developing a video to reflect the day in the life of a social worker to be used for training and to help relationships between ASC and NHS staff.