Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

Chris Holley declared a personal interest.

No declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting(s) and agree as an accurate record.

The Panel agreed the minutes of the meeting on 14 July 2021 as an accurate record of the meeting. 

Under matters arising the Panel raised a query and stated they understood from the statement on page 22 of the agenda pack that moving to a form of outcome budgeting was on hold.  The Convener confirmed that this is correct.

Questions must be submitted in writing, no later than noon on the

working day prior to the meeting. Questions must relate to items on

the agenda. Questions will be dealt with in a 10-minute period.

No questions were submitted.

Deborah Reed, Principal Officer Resources

Deborah Reed, Principal Officer Resources attended to present to the Panel on the programme of support in place for Adult Services staff, recruitment and next steps. 

Discussion Points:

·       Social Services realized there was an issue with sickness and were the first to trial a dedicated Human Resources Officer.  Place and Education have now moved to a similar model and are piloting a dedicated HR Officer in their area. 

·       Panel concerned private sector suffered similar problem with staffing and queried if the Authority has shared its practices with them.  Informed there is not a shared recruitment drive but when the Authority recruits staff it ensures staff are not taken from private homes. 

·       Lots of work has taken place around workforce, still lots to do but Directorate has a plan. 

Mark Child, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Community Health Services

David Howes, Director of Social Services

Mark Child, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and David Howes, Director of Social Services attended to brief the Panel on the current position. 

Discussion Points:

·       Directorate is still managing but it remains a struggle.  We are in the third wave which is having a very significant impact.  Fragility of Domiciliary Care has hit the Directorate worst particularly workforce. 

·       Waiting list for long term domiciliary care was 200 individuals, this is now down to 100/110 individuals.  Not all individuals did not have care but did not have the right care.  Directorate is working hard with families / carers to come up with alternatives until February next year.  A number of individuals (now less than 10) are having to consider residential care as the Authority is unable to provide the domiciliary care they need.

·       Other challenge for the Directorate is prioritisation of assessments and reviews.  There is still a backlog of planned review work.  Negotiations are taking place with an independent agency to pick up a lot of work including all outstanding reviews and assessments.  In the meantime, everyone continues to receive regular updates. 

·       Director believes the Authority’s arrangements are good enough to meet its safeguarding responsibilities. 

·       There is a lot of stress and pressure despite the work undertaken on supporting the workforce. 

·       Panel queried what relationship the Authority wants with the private sector regarding the foreseen and unforeseen and the pros and cons of the different options.  Informed elements of the domiciliary and residential care market require fundamental change to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.

Mark Child, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Community Health Services

David Howes, Director of Social Services

Mark Child and David Howes provided a brief update on the current issues in relation to Performance Monitoring under the previous item.

Discussion Points:

·       Panel queried two aspects about the Common Access Point.  Firstly, whether the number of ‘lost referrals’ is known and their source eg GPs, relatives or others.  Secondly, whether the referral process is capturing the right data to inform the Common Access Point team about both the urgency of the referral and the likely prognosis. 

·       Panel queried in relation to Direct Payments, how the professional review arrangements link with the payment systems to ensure timely funding arrangements are in place. Informed Directorate panel meetings are held three times per week and all links are made via this meeting. 

·       Panel queried who is responsible for determining the code of practice for DOLS assessments, what is causing the delay in agreeing it and how any obstacles might be removed.  Informed this is UK led and the changes that will be made are not so significant that delay gives rise to concern.

·       Panel believes Welsh Government are quite keen to see the number of direct payments increasing.  Direct payments give individuals a choice in the way they are helped.  It does not replace direct service provision if that is the best service for the individual. 

·         Work Programme Timetable 2021-22

The amended work programme was noted.