BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL
HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES AND OLDER PEOPLE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL meeting held on Tuesday 11th September 2007 at 2pm.
PRESENT: Councillors: Adrian Inker (Chair), Loraine Brinkhurst, Will Sandry, Cherry Beath, Terry Gazzard and Dr Anthony Clarke.
Also Present:
Councillor Vic Pritchard - Executive Member for Adult Social Services and Housing
Councillor Steve Hedges (as former Chairman of Housing Community Safety OS Panel for item 9).
Jane Ashman (Director - Adult and Health Services), Pam Richards (Strategic Planning Manager, Adult Social Services & Housing), Claire Cope (Individual Budgets Project Manager), Graham Sabourn - Group Manager (Housing & Health), Anna Burgess (Overview & Scrutiny Project Officer) and Michaela Gay (Democratic Services Officer).
24 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.
25 EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE
The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.
26 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bryan Organ.
27 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were none.
28 TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIRMAN
There was none.
29 ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC OR COUNCILLORS - TO RECEIVE DEPUTATIONS, STATEMENTS, PETITIONS OR QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE BUSINESS OF THIS MEETING
Dr Liz Robb - Senior Dental Officer, Avon Special Care Dental Service made a statement to the Panel regarding Dental Access Centres.
A copy of the statement and a copy of a patient satisfaction survey is available on the minute book in Democratic Services for inspection.
The Chairman thanked Dr Robb for her statement and stated that he would be talking to the Scrutiny officer about an official visit to a Dental Access Centre. This would be open to all Panel members. The Chairman stated that the Panel wished to be part of the engagement process with the PCT (Primary Care Trust) over the issue of decommissioning the DAC's (Dental Access Centres).
30 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: TUESDAY 21st August 2007
It was RESOLVED that the notes from the meeting held on 21st August 2007 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair, with the following amendment:
> Page 8 to show that Councillor Cherry Beath was present.
31 INDIVIDUAL BUDGETS - GENERAL INTRODUCTION FOLLOWED WITH THE FOCUS ON OLDER PEOPLE
Pam Richards (Strategic Planning Manager, Adult Social Services & Housing) showed a DVD of an individual budgets story and gave a presentation on the key points of the individual budgets pilot.
A copy of the presentation is available on the minute book in Democratic Services for inspection.
Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:
> In response to a query from a Panel member, the officer explained that leaflets and guides had been produced. The officer also explained that there were eligibility criteria.
> A Panel member asked if there was a 93soft stop94 to the project as it was a pilot at this stage, the officer explained that the project would not stop but would become the normal process, it will be rolled out and staff training is taking place. The officer explained that the process had been heavily evaluated. Another Panel member stated that he would like to see the evaluation but that it seemed to be a good scheme and good use of multiple resources including the clients own resources. The Director explained that this was unlikely to be rolled back now as `personalisation' was one of the government 93must do94 issues.
> In response to a Panel member raising the issue of isolation, the officer explained that some clients do chose day centres as part of their package of care.
The Chairman thanked the officers for the presentation.
32 REVIEW OF TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATIONS - RESPONSE FROM THE CABINET MEMBER
The Chairman invited Councillor Steve Hedges, as former Chairman of the Housing Community Safety OS Panel, to comment on this report. Cllr Hedges stated that he was pleased with the outcome of this review, he explained some of the research that the Panel had done and stated that he felt it was a good thing to code case files so people were not just a name and number. He thanked officers for their work on the review and the Executive member for his response. He asked that this Panel to monitor this area.
A Panel member stated that the recommendations of this review were excellent and it was a good example of how scutiny works. The Chairman stated that Panel would like an update report at their March 2008 meeting.
33 KEYNSHAM HEALTH PARK UPDATE
The Chairman invited Derek Thorne - Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust, to introduce this item. Derek stated that the work had started on the site (old building now demolished) and the Health Park was due to open in 2009. The report detailed what would be inside the building and there was a picture of the planned building in Annex 3 to the report.
Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:
> In response to a Panel member asking about partnership with the RUH (Royal United Hospital, Bath), Derek stated that he expected and anticipated that Keynsham Health Park would be working alongside them.
> A Panel member asked if patients from other areas would be using the facility, Derek explained that the facility could be used by patients from outside the BANES area.
> The Chairman stated that there had been a strong feeling against Keynsham Hospital closing and that the project had come a long way, the consultation should be held up as good practice.
The Chairman thanked Derek Thorne for this update.
34 PERFORMANCE REPORT - QUARTER 1 FOR 2007-08
The Director introduced the report and outlined the new format.
Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:
> A Panel member asked about `Homeless' issue, he stated that this created a lot of problems in Abbey ward and stated that he had deep concerns as the Council was seen as ineffective by shop keepers and residents on this issue. He asked about any progress on a hostel. The Director explained that the issues around some of the challenging homeless/roofless people in the city centre were not just about housing, there were some community safety issues. She stated that there are no quick solutions on this and that the Community Safety Partnership was looking at a range of options.
> A Panel member asked about the Domiciliary Care Service. The Director stated that most new cases are being directed to an agency for continuity purposes. The Executive Member stated that the wave of complaints had died down on this issue. The Panel noted that there would be a further report in January 2008.
> The Panel noted that there was an open day in `Cleeve Court', the Director recommended that the Panel attend.
> Responding to a question from the Panel about the achievements of the service, the Executive Member mentioned the Housing Renewal Policy. The Director stated that in terms of systems, the Domiciliary Care change had been an achievement. In terms of front line staff, the Maple Grove Inspection and the Healthy Box scheme were great achievements. The Director stated that the biggest challenge to the service was to do everything they planned within the budget.
35 PANEL WORKPLAN
The Panel noted their future workplan and the three items added during this meeting:
January 2008 meeting -
> Interim paper on Temporary Accommodation Review (indication about whether we are on target)
> Paper on Domiciliary Care (update)
March 2008 meeting -
> Temporary Accommodation Review - update
There was some discussion about the number of items the Panel wished to look at. The Director recommended that the Panel should agree a strategy on what health changes they wished to scrutinize.
The Chairman thanked everyone for attending.
The meeting ended at 4.10pm.
Chair
Date Confirmed and Signed
Prepared by Democratic Services