Agenda and minutes

Social Care, Housing and Public Health Policy Overview Committee - Wednesday, 27th November, 2019 7.00 pm

Venue: Committee Room 6 - Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW. View directions

Contact: Anisha Teji  01895277655

Link: Watch the LIVE or archived broadcast of this meeting here

Items
No. Item

43.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

44.

Declarations of Interest in matters coming before this meeting

Minutes:

Councillor Jane Palmer declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 6: Telecare Line Update as she had been previously employed by them. She remained for the discussion of the item.

 

45.

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 133 KB

Minutes:

It was agreed that the following insertion be added to Minute 37 – Children and Young People Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Update October 2019:

 

The Committee was keen to view data indicating how many schools and colleges had taken up KOOTH and how many students were going ahead with it in future reports.

 

RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved subject to the agreed insertion.

 

46.

To confirm that the items of business marked as Part I will be considered in Public and that the items marked as Part II will be considered in Private

Minutes:

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

 

47.

Committee Review: Scoping Report on Becoming an Autism Friendly Council pdf icon PDF 55 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the scoping report on Autism. The scoping report was well received and Members considered that the first draft was comprehensive and set the scene. Members were interested in the services offered by other organisations and councils including the Autism Friendly Wigan Passport. 

 

It was agreed that point 2 of the terms of reference be amended to read:

 

To understand national legislation and guidance about autism and consider how the Council is currently complying with this.

 

At the request of Members, Democratic Services would arrange for a self-assessment exercise completed in 2018 be circulated to Members, in addition to a leaflet entitled, “Giving adults with autism and their families the best care and support” prodcued by Department of Health.

 

It was noted that the autism friendly award was included as background research in the report and, and at that time,  there was no intention to apply for the award. Notwithstanding this, the Committee heard that the Council already had a number of initiatives to support people with autism in place and Members therefore decided to amend the title of the review to read: 

 

“Making the Council more autism friendly”.

 

In order to explore the topic in depth and make meaningful and practical recommendations, the Committee decided to undertake this review as a major review, extending the number of witness sessions. It was agreed that additional witnesses could include representatives from Hillingdon Manor who could focus on transition, parents of children with autism and older people with autism. Members were keen to meet with residents to hear their thoughts and were open to exploring this as witness sessions outside of the usual Committee meetings to create a more comfortable environment. 

 

It was noted that the Council’s website, as a front line service, needed to be reviewed as it contained out of date information.

 

It was confirmed that children centres offering Attention Hillingdon sessions specifically for children provided a good opportunity to engage with children and parents. These services were not overly subscribed and the review may wish to highlight the availability of these services. It was also noted that a new age autism strategy from the government that would be released during the course of the review.

 

RESOLVED: That the feedback and suggestions be taken in to account and the scoping report be noted.

48.

Update on Telecare Line pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Minutes:

The Director of Provider Services and Commissioned Care introduced the report on Telecare and provided a summary of the key highlights. An update was provided on the service and performance levels of the TeleCare Line and Out of Hours Service since the transfer to an external contractor (Anchor Trust) in December 2017.

 

It was reported that as at 31 October 2019 there were 5,928 TeleCare Line users. The number of new users had increased by an average of 91 per month between November 2018 to October 2019 and this was a 12% increase from the same period in the previous year.

 

It was noted that as per the service level agreement, the expectation was for the contractor to answer 97.5% of all TeleCare Line alarm calls within 60 seconds and 90% of all out of hours calls within 60 seconds. Performance had exceeded last year’s levels and remained consistent and above target each month.

 

It was reported that new equipment was being introduced to make services more practical as the equipment did not require regular testing. Work had been undertaken on identifying suitable virtual reality equipment and it was hoped that this could assist a wider audience including people with dementia and autism.  

 

Members commended the services and considered it positive that the service was branching out. Enquiries were raised about whether the service could also be used for people who experienced domestic abuse. It was explained that there were a number of alarms and other equipment that could be considered useful and consideration had been given to offering this to the community safety team. Young people and other service users were encouraged to embrace the technology and different digital solutions available to help people stay independent.

 

Members welcomed the service being used in different ways particularly to it being offered to the community safety team. It was also noted that feedback and services were regularly audited and quarterly and monthly meetings were held with the contractor to review performance.

 

It was confirmed that data regarding the installation of care equipment would be requested from the Council’s facilities and repairs team and be circulated to Members.

 

RESOLVED: That the update report on TeleCare Line be noted.

49.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was agreed that Democratic Services would update Members about the scheduling of safeguarding reports and when they were due to go to Committee. The work programme would also be updated.

 

RESOLVED: That the work programme be noted.

50.

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 53 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the forward plan be noted.