To consider the Adult Services Performance Report for June 2018
Minutes:
Documents:
· Adult Services Performance reports June and July 2018
Discussion:
· The Committee was pleased to note that there were five social work trainees within the service with another one to start training this year
· Discussions are ongoing with universities regarding training for Occupational Therapists and funds are available for one trainee OT post
· The Cabinet had previously considered the additional costs of providing a service in a rural area and officers were asked if further work was being undertaken in this regard. Costs are not always clear. Care workers have been brought in from across the border and accommodation costs are met for those staff.
· Powys People Direct (PPD) was continuing to receive inappropriate referrals and these figures were reflected within the performance report. The service is improving slowly but it is to be redesigned and launched early in the new year. Discussions with libraries and leisure centres are ongoing regarding improving accessibility to Information, Advice and Assistance (IAA). If IAA is to be provided within communities, PPD, or its successor, can deliver a more specialised service. IAA is a requirement of the Social Services and Wellbeing Act to support people to make their own decisions. Additional resource will be provided as will training for library and leisure services staff.
· PAVO and the Council provide the Info Engine service which has been very successful with more hits than any other local authority. Information Engine and Dewis had not been able to share information but the Authority have funded research and programming and now each programme includes all of the information of each site. Members noted the difficulties of parking at some locations and asked whether some sites could be reserved for those wishing to access IAA – the Head of Transformation agreed to discuss the matter with the Head of Leisure and Recreation.
· Dewis had been launched at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show. Info Engine was run and promoted by PAVO. Members suggested greater publicity for these services and asked whether they could be included within the Powys County Council website. This already happens with Children’s Services and Adults Services are looking to do the same
· Sickness absence is recorded within the Adults Performance report but not in the Children’s Services report – consistency of reporting across the service as a whole was needed
· There had been significant improvements since the CIW Inspection although it was acknowledged that further work was needed
· There remained concerns regarding the Active Officer (providing an assessment in Welsh where possible). This is a new statistic and the figures reported were not correct – discussions with Business Intelligence regarding this measure will show an improvement in the performance data for August. It was confirmed that the Active Offer only applies to the Welsh language. Records regarding the linguistic ability of staff have increased from 65% to 95%. Members were aware that there was a Welsh Language Champion and asked who that person was. It was confirmed that the Welsh Language Champion was Dylan Owen, Head of Transformation.
· Members asked whether assessments undertaken in Welsh were recorded in Welsh? Currently, assessments are recorded in English and translated if the client requires a copy. However, there are issues of translation. A national working group led by the Welsh Government is considering the issue of how bilingual records can be maintained.
· Where a client requires service in another language, including British Sign Language, the process of obtaining an interpreter has been improved
· Whilst the number of carers offered an assessment is high, the question of identification of carers remains an issue.
· Statistics show how the length of time between assessment to provision and although this is improving it hides individuals who are waiting a longer time for service. In August the average waiting time was 30 days, however, two clients had been waiting for more than 100 days as it is proving difficult to provide service in their particular areas. Officers monitor the anomalies which may be hidden by averaging statistics.
· There are no assessments outstanding for Social Workers but there are clients waiting for OT or sensory impairment assessments. Four clients are waiting for a social worker for younger disability assessment, but this is classed as a normal workload.
· Members were of the opinion that the service was in a more positive position than Children’s Services. Trends were heading in the right direction.
· Some measures did not have targets against them and Members asked when these will be included. Targets will be included where appropriate although the Head of Transformation noted that targets could lead to perverse behaviours and he would hope that the service was looking to improve at all levels.
· It was noted that the service was forecasting an underspend at year end – Members sought clarity as to whether this was an underspend or savings. Officers informed the Committee that it was a mixture of the two. There had also been an increase in funding for the year which had not been required to be drawn down. However, there would be a standstill budget next year and pressures would still have to be met. The way in which the services works is changing but it is a slow process to change cultures.
· There was a long list of improvements and Members asked how these were prioritised – all actions were contained within the Improvement Plan. This was available on the intranet and could be brought to a future Committee for a more detailed discussion.
· It was noted that the service categorised clients at age 75+ but the Health Authority work to a lower average age range and differentiate over 85s. When considering discharging clients from hospital to home, different processes were in place with different health authorities. The inconsistency of processes was acknowledged and there were challenging issues in some areas. One of the primary factors in when a client can be discharged from hospital is the availability of care.
County Councillor K Roberts-Jones left the meeting at 12.35
· There were some measures which did not include figures – this may be due to a measure being an annual one or that the figure was zero – if it is zero, then this should be recorded as such and not left blank.
· The Committee asked how quality assurance was measured – a QA Manager was appointed in April 2018. Audits are now being undertaken. The Improvement and Assurance Board had had similar concerns and a briefing had been prepared for them which would be useful for the Committee.
· Each service has a Finance Resource Model (FRM) and the Adults FRM had suggested that there would be significant pressures in the next financial year. The forecast has been altered and the FRM is under review. Savings will have to be made to meet pressures.
· A Winter Plan is required by the Welsh Government and has been prepared
· A survey of carers is undertaken by Credu. Contract monitoring meetings take place with Credu quarterly – their satisfaction rating is very high. Further information on this function can be provided to Members.
Supporting documents: