To consider what the Council has achieved, what challenges lie ahead and which areas will be the focus for improvement.  Report attached marked:  7

Members received the Shropshire Council Adult Social Care Local Account 2014 – 2015 (a copy is attached to the signed minutes).

The Committee was reminded that the Local Account was designed to demonstrate and describe performance in adult social care to local people, was designed to be user-focused and highlight the quality aspects of services provided, rather than numbers.

During discussion, Members asked questions and raised issues related to the following:

Telephone number for the First Point of Contact

Members commented positively on the success of the First Point of Contact.  It was confirmed that the telephone number for the FPOC was promoted on all adult social care publications and advertised in a variety of ways including through bulletins issued by Shropshire Association of Local Councils and Parish Magazines. 

Family Carers

A Member drew attention to the Focus on Carers page which showed that 66% of family carers said that they did not have enough control of their life.  Officers acknowledged that more could be done for carers. All carers services had recently been recommissioned and the Council would be working on developments with the NHS. The Carers Partnership Board was involved in considering what was needed.

Delayed transfers of care from hospital (for people aged 18+) attributable to adult social care

Members noted a deterioration in performance over the year and asked for the reasons for this. 

They heard that the national picture was also deteriorating for reasons including the increase in complexity of conditions of patients leaving hospital which often meant a significant package of domiciliary care was required.  In Shropshire this was often in very rural parts of the county.  A Member of the Committee remarked on the need for carers in rural areas to have access to satnav as some locations were very hard to find. 

Care particularly for hospital leavers had recently been commissioned and more was needed.  Recruitment to domiciliary care posts was discussed and work with schools, colleges and the Job Centre to encourage applications was underway. It was felt that more should be done nationally to recognise the work of those employed in social care and enhance training opportunities so that jobs were perceived in the same way as those in the health sector.

Members noted that a report covering hospital discharge delays would be considered at a meeting of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee the following day.   It was also noted that 30.9% of national hospital discharge delays were related to social care.

Preventative Work

A Member asked where dementia fell within the primary support reasons listed on page 8 of the report. The Director explained that if the primary impact of dementia was the need for personal care support, that would be how a service user would be categorised.  The Council’s Social Care Information System was limited when it came to extracting information in other ways. 

Members also referred to other causes of mental confusion in older people, for example as a result of a urinary infection.  They asked whether the Council had regular contact with GPs to tackle this sort of issue.  There was evidence to suggest that many older people were not drinking enough and low level interventions such as reminding them of the importance of drinking would be an inexpensive way of preventing poor health and hospital admissions.    

The Director referred to hospital admission avoidance schemes, and encouraging GPs to make links with Let’s Talk Local sessions.  In response to a question from a Member about GP surgeries in Wales, he said that the aim was to make links with GPs in remote areas serving Shropshire patients, regardless of whether they were in Shropshire or Wales. 

Members discussed the role of Frail and Elderly co-ordinators located in some GP surgeries. They felt it would be useful to hear how many there were across the county and to hear from someone in such a role.  

The Committee thanked officers for the comprehensive and useful Local Account and for attending the meeting.