Agenda and minutes

None.

Councillor Palmer declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 6, as she had previously worked for TeleCare. Councillor Palmer advised that she would remain in the room when the item was discussed.

Members sought an update on the completion of the actions resulting from minute 26: Adult Safeguarding Board Annual Report. The clerk confirmed that he was awaiting an update from the officers in question.

The Committee sought clarity on whether the Adult Safeguarding Board Annual Report was required to be presented at a Full Council meeting. It was agreed that the clerk would review the matter, and feed this back to Members accordingly.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2017 be agreed as a correct record.

It was confirmed that there were no Part II items, and that all business would therefore be conducted in public.

Gary Collier, Health and Social Care Integration Manager, introduced a report updating the Committee on the Better Care Fund Plan 2017-19. Mr Collier was supported by Joan Veysey, Deputy Chief Operating Officer - CCG.

The Committee was advised that the Better Care Fund Plan (BCF) for the 2017/19 period was Hillingdon's third plan, and had now been approved by NHS England.

The report outlined Hillingdon's performance against National Metrics, set by NHS England. While several targets had been missed, it was important to evaluate performance to target within the context of an aging population with increased complexity of need, and in these terms Hillingdon had done well to contain the level of growth and demand seen in the period. However, there was work still to be done to ensure performance continued to improve.

While it had not been possible to deliver some of the key actions set out for the period 2016/17, much of the development work had taken place to help facilitate the delivery major of initiatives to be taken forward during the period 2017/19, such as integrated brokerage and integrated homecare.

Members sought clarity on a number of points including:

How were the delays in supporting the discharges from hospital for people with mental health needs being addressed?

Processes to address the discharge of those with mental health issues were now being instigated much earlier. A new discharge management tool was now being used, which included regular meetings between mental health officers and housing officers. Whilst this was still a work in progress, improvements were starting to be seen.

In addition, it was important to recognise that the data in the report set out the number of days that patients were delayed from being discharged, but not the number of individuals affected. People requiring specialist help were a relatively small number, but were often more challenging to find a suitable home setting and therefore could take a significantly longer amount of time to be discharged, thereby skewing the figures somewhat.

Why was Hillingdon still considering joining the Accountable Care Partnership (ACP)?

This was related to the development of a business case, as the Council was required to be certain that there were no undue risks to the Council.

NHS England required that the final BCF Plan was published by 11 September 2017. Why had Hillingdon missed this deadline?

Delays in publication were caused by local governance processes. The submission process guidance had been published by NHS England in July 2017, with templates submitted later. Hillingdon was therefore required to develop the Plan in August 2017, and were not in a position to seek approval of the Plan until the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board in September 2017. Hillingdon was not the only authority in such a situation, and had been in regular dialogue with NHS England throughout the process.

What was the reason for the decline in the emergency admittance of people aged 65 and over since 2014/15?

This was in large part due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Sandra Taylor, Assistant Director Provider & Commissioned Care, provided the Committee with an update on the TeleCareLine Services. Ms Taylor was supported by Manesh Patel, OPHS Operations Manager.

The Committee was informed that the previous review into Assistive Technology was conducted in 2011, just after the inception of TeleCare within the Borough. Since then, the service had been offered for free to over 85's, and extended in 2015 to a free service for all residents aged over 80. Service users continued to grow, with 4,949 users as at September 2017. Within this figure, the total number of TeleCareLine (TCL) users aged 80+ was 3,768.

Service levels available to residents included:

Standard - Level 1 - included standard unit, pendant, bogus caller button and monitored smoke detector with the resident having their own nominated responders in the event of an emergency. Level 2 included the same equipment but with LBH mobile response service.

Enhanced - Level 3 - included the equipment in level 1 plus additional sensors to meet the needs of the client following an assessment e.g. falls detector, movement sensors, door sensors, again with the resident's own nominated responders, or Level 4 with LBH mobile response service.

The TCL system was monitored 24/7 by the Council's TCL team who provided the first line response to all alerts raised. For residents who had their own nominated responder, the TCL monitoring team would make contact with them in an emergency.  Where emergency services were required, these would be instructed by the monitoring team. Residents who did not have family or friends living close enough to act as an emergency responder could still benefit from TCL via the Council's mobile response service.  This support was provided by the Senior Reablement Carers between 8am and 10pm, and the dedicated night response officer, who would respond to call outs as required.

An increase in enquiries had been seen relating to the smoke detector. The bogus caller button was rarely used, whereas the emergency call button, included within the home kit, was used frequently. Use of the Vega Watch was low, though the watch included functionality to provide GPS tracking, emergency calls, and zoning alerts, all of which were useful in locating the user and responding to them when required. The watch was often used in conjunction with door sensors, to provide an alert if the user left the property unexpectedly.

Devices were tested regularly, with a daily report compiled that showed device usage. If a device had been seen to have been out of use for 36 hours, the Council would receive an alert. Devices could be 'pinged' to ensure functionality, and calls would be made to users if devices remained inoperable. The TeleCare Line itself was subject to power cuts on occasion, though internal batteries in devices would ensure that these continued to work in the interim. Intermittent service issues often lasted for approximately 1 hour, and in the event of longer outages, courtesy calls would be made to users.

Technology within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Committee noted the report submitted by Jane Cook, Director of Projects at Bell Farm Christian Centre, following the Member visit held on Tuesday 17 October 2017. The Centre had been visited by Councillors Palmer, Nelson and Ahmad-Wallana.

Councillor Palmer commended Ms Cook on the report, and the work of Bell Farm Christian Centre. Councillor Palmer confirmed that her visit to the Centre had been very positive, and that it was heartening to see residents having such a wonderful time. The staff at the Centre were commended for being friendly and welcoming, and in particular their willingness to go 'above and beyond' for their attendees. This included providing house visits for those who could not attend in person, shopping visits, and excursions. The Centre was frequented be a variety of people from several different cultures and backgrounds, and included attendees from wards other than West Drayton.

Councillor Nelson echoed Councillor Palmer's feelings, and advised that the Centre was in need of a new urn in their kitchen. It was suggested that the potential for funding of this urn be looked into through the Cabinet Member budget, though Mrs O'Connor, co-opted member, advised that there was potential for her to fund the urn through her own budget, and requested that Councillor Nelson put the request in writing to her.

Members advised that many of the good things being done at the Centre were mirrored at other sites within the Borough, such as the Yiewsley and West Drayton Community Centre, Abbots Football Club, and the Dovetail Community Baptist Church. It was felt that people often travelled long distances to these sites, because they were not aware of available sites within their local area. To allay this, it was suggested that increased promotion of the sites be considered as a potential recommendation to Cabinet as part of the current review into loneliness and social isolation in older residents.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report be noted;

2.    That the funding of the urn at the Centre through available budgets be looked into; and

3.    That further promotion of sites such as Bell Farm Christian Centre be considered as a potential recommendation to Cabinet as part of the review into loneliness and social isolation in older residents.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme 2017-18 be noted.