Agenda item

The Strategic Director, Adult Social Care and Health submits a report that presents the findings of a peer review of Leicester City Council’s Adult Social Care Services.  The Commission is recommended to note the feedback received from the review team.

The Commission considered a report from the Strategic Director, Adult Social Care and Health that presented the findings of a Peer Review of Leicester City Council’s Adult Social Care Services. The Chair congratulated all concerned on the work being undertaken during the current challenging financial situation.

The Strategic Director explained that the key focus of the review was on leadership and how Adult Social Care in Leicester was prepared for the leadership challenges it faced. This appeared to be an appropriate focus when taking into account the recent changes in leadership and the increasing demand on services within the current financial constraints.

Members heard that the feedback produced no surprises, as the review highlighted areas which the service had already identified.

Members were invited to comment and ask questions on the report and points made included the following:

·         How would the Service respond to the feedback received? Would there be an action plan?

The Strategic Director explained that they were mapping areas identified with pieces of work being undertaken. The leadership team would track this work and there would also be a self- assessment review later in the year.

·         Was there a benchmark to enable Leicester to be compared to other Local Authorities?

The Strategic Director explained that all Local Authorities completed the same self-assessment tool, but could identify their own                           areas to review under the Peer Review process.  This would provide a better focus on what was relevant to each authority. In addition to this Peer Reviews would make reference to the nationally available datasets and statutory data returns that all councils with adult social care responsibilities returned to the national data centre. These outcomes had been previously reported to the Commission in November 2015.

·         It was noted that one of the findings from the review was that more clarity was needed as to where the boundaries of Adult Social Care were, and a Member questioned what this meant.

The Strategic Director responded that Adult Social Care had certain statutory obligations. Leicester City Council’s adult social care offer was more extensive than some other Local Authorities and it went beyond the statutory requirements. There was a challenge however in continuing to go beyond those statutory obligations in view of the financial pressures the Council were under. The Chair queried how any resulting gap could be filled if that offer was reduced. The Strategic Director responded that there was an issue around people’s expectations and there was perhaps a need to try to push back some of those expectations to balance people’s needs with what the Council could do. Expectations around residential care were especially difficult to address. The Chair stated that from her experience, people did not want to go into residential care, but preferred to remain in their own home. If people were aware of what help was available locally, this would help to avoid isolation.  The Chair added that she believed that Adult Social Care started at birth with families encouraging healthy lifestyles, growing their own food and with getting involved in the local community.

A concern was expressed that the findings of the review identified a high level of staff sickness.  The Strategic Director explained that work was ongoing to address this, with the initial focus on long term sickness. Sickness levels were being managed in accordance with the council’s procedures; but the pressures that staff were under were recognised.

It was noted that the findings of the review also referred to John Bolton and his work on resources. In response to a question, the Commission heard that John Bolton had undertaken a considerable amount of work on the use of resources in adult social care nationally.  His report reflected that part of the problem was the national funding crisis and the funding pressures that had been placed on Local Authorities. He stated that everyone had assets (or strengths) and there was a need to develop those strengths to build resilience, as opposed to focussing on what that person could not do.  Members commented that they welcomed that approach, but there was a need to recognise that some people might over-estimate their own abilities. The Strategic Director responded that a competent social care practitioner would work with people effectively to gain a robust insight into the person’s needs; this might involve asking a question in several different ways. However, if a person was insistent that they were able to do something, and had the capacity to decide this, there was little that social care could offer to overcome the person’s choice.

AGREED:

                        that the report be noted.