Agenda item

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report to provide Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission with an overview of the work in progress to understand the impact of Covid-19 on individuals with a learning disability and to consider new models of support.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to note the content of the report and are invited to provide comment and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submitted a report which provided the Commission with an overview of work in progress to understand the impact of Covid-19 on individuals with a learning disability and to consider new models of support. Members were recommended to note the report and provide and comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

Tracie Rees, Director of Adult Social Care and Commissioning introduced the report which gave a brief overview of the day care services that had had to close and the impact on service users. Points made were:

·         Officers had heard and seen over the weeks the difficulties for people with learning disabilities in not undertaking their usual daily routines, and the strain it had placed on families and carers.

·         With the services closed it had given officers an opportunity to see how differently the service could be provided. ADASS had appointed consultants (at no cost to the Council) to look at what was happening regionally and nationally and to present alternative models of care. Members asked for a report to be brought to a future meeting of the Commission.

·         Work had started on understanding the impact on other groups who would usually attend day care or receive community-based support. A report would be brought to the Commission at a future meeting.

In response to Members questions, the following points were made:

·         With regards to the pandemic effect on carers looking after vulnerable people, regular contact had been maintained with families and individuals, for example, staff from Hastings Road Day Centre had kept in regular touch through weekly calls and outreach support. Individuals had also been supported in their homes, as a means of giving carers respite, this included virtual Zoom calls and delivering activity packs to individuals which had helped to alleviate stress levels.

·         It was reported there were instances where families had gone into crisis. There were very often complex health needs as well as a learning disability, and the families had been supported but it would have been better if there had been more crisis response services to prevent individuals from being admitted to hospital. Officers had worked with health colleagues to look at carer/ family breakdowns which appear to have been triggered by the lack of daily routine and social interaction, and health issues. It would be interesting to find out what had worked well and what hadn’t.

·         The Carers Survey was due to be completed in 2021. When the survey responses were returned, the results would be reported back to the Scrutiny Commission at a future meeting, to allow the Commission to compare models of support.

·         For the 29 individuals who used Hastings Road Day Care service, outreach was offered to all families and 12 families had taken up support, where the authority’s own staff had gone in and provided assistance. For the remaining families weekly calls had been made. If they had needed support they had been visited at home. During the period there was one individual who had been particularly distressed and the services had been opened up for that individual to attend a couple of hours a day to support their mental health and wellbeing, as well as offering the career respite. It was also recognised that quite a lot of carers were elderly and the authority had been conscious they too needed support.

·         The Council had been working with other authorities to share good practice and to understand what options should be developed.

·         Online support is offered for those with learning disabilities and complex needs, and outreach support provided by the Council ensured that assistance could be accessed by those who needed help.

·         The service had also engaged the ‘We Think’ group, which is a group of individuals with a learning disability who acted as advocates for others.

·         Carers had also been asked if they would participate in 1:1 discussions with the consultants that were undertaking work as part of the Regional and National scheme. Support would be given to carers with no access to IT.

·         For practical support, sessions were also being offered through The Richmond Fellowship for people, a mental health support service the authority helped fund to support people under the current circumstances if they felt their mental health had been affected.

The Chair thanked the officer and colleagues for the report and for the questions from members.

The Chair asked Members to note the report, and that it be recommended the Consultants’ Report, the report on the impact on other groups who would usually attend day care or community-based support, and information on shared good practice between authorities be added to a future report.

AGREED:

that:

1.    The report and comments by the Scrutiny Commission be noted.

2.    The Consultants’ report for ADASS be brought to a future meeting.

3.    Work on understanding the impact on other groups who would usually attend day care or community-based support be reported to Scrutiny at a later date.

4.    Shared good practice between authorities to be added to a future report.