Home > Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: This meeting will be held remotely. View directions

Contact: Simon Trevaskis
02087266000  Email: simon.trevaskis@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1/22

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 139 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2021 as an accurate record (to follow).

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 November 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

 

2/22

Disclosure of Interests

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda.  If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.  

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting.  

·      Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  

·      Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.   

·      Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest made at the meeting.

 

3/22

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

 

Minutes:

There were no urgent items of business for consideration by the Health & Social Care Sub-Committee at this meeting.

4/22

Croydon Together - Winter Challenges & Covid Pandemic Update pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The Health & Social Care Sub-Committee will be provided with an update on the response of the health and care services in the borough to the pressures caused by the winter season and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report set out in the agenda supplement for the meeting, which provided an update on the response of local healthcare services to the impact from winter pressures and the covid-19 pandemic. An introduction to the item and the questions of the Sub-Committee were answered by the following representatives from health and social partners:-

·         Agnelo Fernandes – GP Borough Lead for Croydon – South West London Clinical Commissioning Group

·         Rachel Flowers – Director of Public Health at Croydon Council

·         Matthew Kershaw – Chief Executive at Croydon Health Service NHS Trust & Place-Based Leader for Health

·         Annette McPartland – Corporate Director of Adult Social Care & Health at Croydon Council

·         Lee McPhail – Chief Operating Officer at Croydon Health Service NHS Trust

·         Hilary Williams – Service Director at South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

During the introduction provided on this item the following points were noted:-

·         The borough was slowly seeing a plateauing of the latest covid wave, with 120 patients in the Croydon University Hospital (down from 140 at the time the report was written), including 8 in intensive care.

·         The best way for the public to assist the NHS was to continue to adhere to the guidance such as ‘Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air’ and taking up the vaccine offer.

·         There had been 600,000 covid vaccinations delivered in Croydon including 60,000 at the hospital as well as the wider provision from GPs, pharmacies and mass vaccination centres.

·         The vaccine rate in certain parts of the borough remained lower than others, with work continuing on finding different approaches to encourage take up.

·         Mandatory vaccination for health and social care staff would take effect from 1 April 2022, with work on the implementation of this mandate underway.

·         The Elective Centre set up at Croydon University Hospital had helped to manage the number of people waiting for treatment, but the levels had understandable dropped during the recent omicron wave. However, the service was now on the way to returning to pre-omicron levels and was likely to be fully up to speed by early March.

·         There had been an increase in the number of unwell patients needing care, which placed pressure on the whole of the healthcare system. To help manage capacity, improvements were being made to the assessment and treatment of patients, including same day emergency care to help people avoid stays in hospital.

·         Tribute was paid to the excellent partnership work between health and social care teams to manage and maintain the flow of patients through the health system as well as possible. It was highlighted that the social care discharge team was working across the healthcare system in London to manage the discharge of patients into the borough.

·         Most care home residents had now received both vaccinations and a booster.

·         The borough was seeing covid outbreaks in educational establishments, but the Public Health team was working with the Education Service to maintain face to face teaching as much as possible.

·         Evidence had indicated that although the omicron variant was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/22

5/22

Scrutiny Budget Challenge: Adult Social Care & Health Directorate pdf icon PDF 152 KB

The Health & Social Care Sub-Committee is asked to review the information provided on the identified budget proposals and reach a conclusion on the following:-

1.    The savings are deliverable, sustainable and are not at unacceptable risk.

2.    The impact on service users and the wider community is understood.

3.    That all reasonable alternative options have been explored and no better options exist.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report, set out on pages 5 to 26 of the agenda, which provided a response to the budget challenge set by the Sub-Committee concerning the ongoing management of care packages and managing demand in Adult Social Care.

The report was introduced and the questions of the Sub-Committee answered by the following officers:-

·         Annette McPartland - Corporate Director for Adult Social Care and Health

·         Bianca Byrne – Head of Strategic Commissioning & Improvement

·         Richard Eyre – Head of Improvement

·         Matthew Davis – Interim Director of Finance

During the introduction it was highlighted that the assessment of care packages was based upon a strength based approach and had to be managed within the regulations set out in the Health & Care Act. If an assessment was needed it was carried out through consultation with the service user and their carers to identify the best outcomes for the user. The Adult Safeguarding Board and other panels were in place to ensure that people were being safeguarded. It would be unlawful if an individual experienced harm or the level of care provided was unsafe for an individual and as such social workers, as registered practitioners, had a duty to ensure that the care provided was safe.

Included within the report was the Adult Social Care Strategy which set out the principles for transforming the service. It was highlighted that at present Adult Social Care was on track to meet 100% of its savings targets for 2021-22.

Following the introduction the Sub-Committee was given the opportunity to question the information provided. The first question related to the need to account for inflation in the budget, with a 4% increase included. As inflation was currently above 5% it was questioned whether there was enough flexibility in the budget to account for this increase. It was confirmed that inflation was being monitored as it was a known risk to the budget. Work was underway to review the corporate inflation provision to establish what could be afforded.

It highlighted that service user feedback and involvement in the commissioning process was important in ensuring the delivery of good quality services. As such it was questioned how service users would be involved going forward and how they could provide feedback if they were unhappy about a service. Reassurance was given that people were at the heart of the commissioning process and it was seen as essential to feed in the voice of service users, with this principle being a key driver in the commissioning model the Adult Social Care service was working towards. If a service user had a concern about the level of service provided, in the first instance this should be reported to the provider and shared with the Council.

The service also worked with user groups such as the Autism Board and the Croydon Adult Social Services User Panel (CASSUP) to consider how services were commissioned. It was essential that workstreams had the involvement of residents in designing the system, which need to include honest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/22

6/22

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

 

Minutes:

This motion was not required.