Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Brar, no substitute

Councillor Peter Kemp declared a non-pecuniary interest as a governor on the Board of CNWL.

Were agreed as an accurate record.

All items were considered in Part 1.

The Interim Deputy Director, Social Services, Health and Housing introduced the report and explained that the first witness session aimed to address the following lines of enquiry:

• Identifying Needs and Early Identification
• Learning from best practice
• Resources.

The witnesses in attendance were:

• Sandra Brookes - Borough Director CNWL
• Joan Vessey – Acting Borough Director, NHS Hillingdon
• Fiona Davies – NHS Hillingdon
• Alan Coe - Mental Health Consultant, working for the Social Care, Health and Housing Department

Sandra Brookes provided an overview of the six information packs which were included in the agenda. This was followed by a question and answer session. The following points were noted:

Information Pack 1 – National Context – Summary of No Health without Mental Health

• The way forward: No Health Without Mental Health: a cross-government mental health strategy for people of all ages: Translating Vision into Reality consisted of 6 elements which were:
  1. More People have better mental health
  2. More people will recover
  3. Better physical health
  4. Positive experience of care and support
  5. Fewer people will suffer avoidable harm
  6. Fewer people experience stigma and discrimination
• Health and well-being was an important aspect of the strategy which linked a healthy body and mind together.
• Referring to the IAPT[1] recovery rate Programme, it was noted that access to physiological therapy and early intervention were vital to assist people with mental health issues to stay in employment, which in turn made a valuable contribution to reducing stigma and discrimination.
• An evidence based approach was taken to mental health service provision. It was important to ensure that users and carer’s experiences were incorporated into the services delivered jointly by the Council and CNWL.

Information Pack 2 – Contextual Information for Hillingdon – data informing a new Commissioning Plan

• The priorities for NHS Hillingdon and the London Borough of Hillingdon included:

1.        Promoting healthier lifestyles

2.        Improved co-ordination of joint health and social care working

3.        Safeguarding, prevention and protection

4.        Community based, resident focused services

5.        Promoting economic resilience

6.        Preserving and protecting the natural environment

7.        Reducing disparities in health

• A key challenge for the new Commissioning Plan would be the focus on the national context, and moving away from secondary care to primary care

Information Pack 3 – Performance Data

• In relation to the following performance targets:
  1. 7-day follow up
  2. CPA reviews
  3. Delayed Transfers of Care
  4. Gatekeeping
  5. New EIS Cases
  6. NHS Data completeness
  7. Home Treatment episodes
  8. Self directed support
  9. Placement reviews
  10. Assessment waiting times
  11. Carers assessments
  12. Service Users receiving review

It was noted that overall performance had improved over the past 3 years and in particular work around home treatments and early interventions had gone well. A series of action plans had been introduced to address Self Directed Support, Placement reviews, Carers Assessments and Social Care Reviews.

Information Pack 4 – Access to Services & Information Pack 5 – Organisational Structure

• It was noted that CNWL had been reconfigured into the following 10 Service Lines:

1. Acute Service Line – including acute beds / care unit / home treatment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Reference was made to the work programme and timetable of meetings. It was noted that title of the Social Care, Health and Housing Performance Assessment had been changed to the Local Account and this would be considered in early 2013 and not December 2012 as listed in the work programme.

Members discussed a number of possibilities for site visits for the review and Hillingdon MIND located a Mead House was suggested.

Resolved –

That the report be noted.

Deputy Director Social Care, Health and Housing provided an overview of the Hillingdon Housing Strategy 2012-2015 (Cabinet Item 741). It was noted that this report outlined the Council’s proposals for responding to the key national and local issues for housing. Areas included:

·  Public Sector housing

·  The use of the Private Rented Sector

·  Home ownership.

The priorities and key issues for the strategy were reported to Cabinet in 2011 and approved for consultation with partner organisations. Officers explained that this report would present the draft strategy for formal consultation.

It was noted that the previous strategy was about 5 years old and since its inception a number of new challenges had emerged. These included:

·  Responding to the recent global and national economic climate since the downturn

·  The rise in housing demand during a period of low housing building

·  The impact of homelessness

·  The rise in popularity of the private rented sector

In response to question about the number of empty homes, Officers reported that there was a specific section within the strategy addressing this topic. Empty homes are divided into those which have remained unoccupied for less than 6 months and those greater than 6 months. The Council is pursuing a range of options to reduce empty homes including using an incentive scheme. Officers confirmed that a major challenge was ensuring that the Council used its stock as effectively as possible and reducing the number of under occupied properties.

Officers confirmed that developers were keen to build 1 and 2 bedroom properties but the greatest demand was for homes containing 3 or more bed rooms. In relation to recent changes, officers confirmed that there had been an increased number of people migrating from inner to outer London Boroughs.

Resolved –

That the verbal report be noted