Agenda item

[Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Social Services, to present report]

The Chair invited Becky Wilkinson, Director of Adult Services, to present the report.

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the presentation would give a summary of Winter Plan 2022-2023 planning work.

The Director of Adult Services advised that the presentation was also intended to give assurance before the next planned scrutiny meeting in January 2023 of the work being by the Council and other key partners to date to prepare for expected increase in demand during the winter months.

The Director of Adult Services added that while the focus of the plan is on the role of RWHT, the Council has a responsibility around the Winter Plan to support the work of the hospital and people needing adult social care.

The NHS winter period covers the period October 2022 to March 2023. 

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that the Winter Plan was developed through the One Wolverhampton Partnership and commented on the positive working relationships with health colleagues and praised the joint efforts made by everyone involved in drafting the plan.

The Director of Adult Services advised the panel that based on modelling work there is expected to be a deficit of 52 beds in January 2023 without any mitigation or extra bed capacity.  The Director of Adult Services commented on the role of adult social care in supporting this work.

The Director of Adult Services commented on specific areas of work in the Winter Plan, to either mitigate against the risks or create extra hospital bed capacity for example, reducing ambulance delays and admission avoidance, and gave details about the current funding available and where extra funding is needed to deliver the project.

The Director of Adult Services commented on the funding generally for the Winter Plan and advised that a decision is expected from the Government about the social care winter discharge monies and Wolverhampton’s share of this allocation. The fund will be in addition to the £1 million budget for urgent and emergency care and funds from the community infrastructure budget to support the delivery of the Winter Plan.

The Director of Adult Services commented that the RWHT are already experiencing levels of pressures on bed capacity in the last 10 days that would normally be expected in the peak of winter demand. The Council is looking at how it can help support efforts to reduce the pressure on the hospital.

The Director of Adult Services reassured the panel that the Winter Plan will be assessed by NHS England to check that Wolverhampton has everything in place as much possible to mitigate against the challenges detailed in the presentation. The Director of Adult Services wanted to formally note her thanks to health colleagues who have responded positively when asked to contribute to the adult social care budget to help deliver the Winter Plan.

The panel were invited to comment on the report.

The Chair thanked the presenter for the report.

The panel queried the potential funding stream gaps detailed in the report and if the budget was sufficient to deliver the schemes. The panel highlighted the £150,000 funding required for Development and Implementation of a Primary Care Paediatric Respiratory Hub as an example. The panel also queried if there was enough time to get the schemes operational before the end of the winter period.

The Director of Adult Services agreed to contact colleagues in health to get a definite answer on that specific question on the scheme and report back to the panel. The Director of Adult Services added that NHS England will also be asking for similar reassurances about Wolverhampton’s winter planning arrangements.

The panel discussed the importance of sustainable and adequate funding to ease the pressure on the health and adult social care sector. The Director of Adult Services acknowledged issues about secure funding is a key risk to delivery of the schemes and highlighted the impact of short-term grant funding on the ability to plan the delivery services.

The panel welcomed the report and were reassured that Wolverhampton has a very comprehensive winter plan in place to respond to the issues outlined in the presentation.

The panel suggested a progress report on the implementation of the Winter Plan actions be presented to a meeting of the panel in January 2023.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report and the good progress made in drafting the Winter Plan.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the progress in the development of the draft Wolverhampton Winter Plan Summary 2022- 2023.

2.    The Director of Director of Adult Services to provide an update on the implementation and progress in addressing funding gaps detailed in the plan to a meeting of the Panel in January 2023.