Agenda and minutes

Venue: Training Room, Ground Floor, Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1SH

Contact: Earl Piggott Smith  01902 551251 email: earl.piggott-smith@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Moran, Patten, Mattu and Tersaim Singh

 

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interests were made.

3.

Minutes of previous meetings pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

Resolved:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 November 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

4.

Matters arising

Minutes:

The panel expressed their concern about the delay in receiving a response from the scrutiny manager to a complaint about the reports being published after the agreed deadline. The scrutiny officer agreed to refer the matter to the scrutiny manager for a response.

 

5.

Quality Assurance and Compliance Update pdf icon PDF 201 KB

[Sarah Smith,Head of Strategic Commissioning, to present report]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

David Watts, Service Director Adults, introduced the report and invited panel members to comment on the content. The Service Director explained that the report covers both adults and children’s but the focus of discussion will be services provided to adults. The panel queried a concern raised by a resident that their needs had not been assessed six months after moving into a residential home. The Service Director advised that a care assessment would be done before a person was moved and agreed to investigate and contact the Councillor directly.

 

The panel queried the frequency of visits made by members of the quality assurance and compliance team and how visits are co-ordinated with those made by Care Quality Commission (CQC). Jas Kakkar, Lead Commissioner, explained that the team works closely with the Quality Nurse Advisors from the CCG to plan visits to homes during the year.  The team will discuss with providers any actions plans produced following an inspection and help them to improve the quality of services – for example, sharing good practice from other establishments.

 

The Service Director explained that the Council can suspend further admissions where there are serious concerns and prevent new admissions until the required improvements have been completed. A decision to suspend or re-instate admissions to a home is taken by the Service Director.

 

The panel queried what checks are done to ensure the necessary care is provided as part of domiciliary visit to a service user and whether it was sufficient for their needs. The Lead Commissioner advised the panel that she was confident that the current monitoring arrangements provide information about the time spent during a visit. The system records the time the carer arrives and leaves and we will review the situation if they are spending more time or less time on tasks based on the previous assessment of needs. The situation will be reviewed and changes made as appropriate to the care package in discussion with the service user and their family members. The system would also record missed visits. In addition, a social worker will visit the service user to check if their care needs have changed and their views on the quality of care provided.

 

The Service Director added the Council want to encourage people to raise concerns about the quality of care and not to feel concerned that it will be held against them. The Lead Commissioner added that the service is working with representatives of Wolverhampton Healthwatch to collect information about the user experience. The Lead Commissioner added they Healthwatch are being more independent and this will hopefully encourage service users to share any concerns about the care they are receiving.

 

The panel commented suggested that the structure of the report was difficult to follow as it included details of both children and adults. The panel suggested that in future they would like a progress report to focus on the provision of services to adults. The panel commented that section 3 of the report should be redrafted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Mental Capacity Act - Deprivation of Liberty (report to follow)

[Paula Morris, Safeguarding Manager – Adults, to present report]

 

Minutes:

David Watts, Service Director Adults, explained that the report should have been removed from the agenda as no further progress has been made in taking forward the recommendations of the Law Commission to current rules relating the circumstances that would trigger an independent assessment regarding deprivation of liberty safeguards. The Service Director advised that a panel that a decision on any changes to the legislation is unlikely for some months. The panel will be advised of any policy changes.