To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors PL Bettington and CA North.

To receive details of any Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor C Nicholls for Councillor CA North.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

None.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2015.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 19 January were approved and signed as a correct record.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

(There will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised.  Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

There were no suggestions for future scrutiny.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the Committee Officer.  This will help to ensure that an answer can be provided at the meeting). 

An issue had been raised with the Chairman regarding the parking facilities for the Rapid Response Team.  The Director, Adults Wellbeing would clarify the matter.

To hold a public accountability session for organisations within the health sector.  This session shall focus on the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr Merker, Director of Service Delivery, 2gether NHS Foundation Trust which was published as a supplement to the Agenda.

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were addressed:

·         That the Committee would be provided with a list of waiting times for patients, together with information on the number of referrals made against the time that patients had waited for their appointments. 

In reply to a question, Mr Merker said that since September 2013 the Learning Disability specialist services had a clear focus as a result of the commissioning arrangements between health and social care.  The Service was in a larger clinical network as a result of changes, which allowed for different professional discussion between clinical colleagues.  Work was still required around various clinical pathways. 

·         That one of the aims of the Lets Talk service was to provide an alternative to the GP for those suffering from depression for those with low level needs.  This should help reduce the level of prescribing.  Mental Health nurses liaised with GP’s to discuss the best way forward for treating patients.

·         That it was unlikely that the fatal stabbing that had happened at the Wooton Lawn Hospital in Gloucestershire could happen in Herefordshire.  Appropriate training had been provided to all staff in the unit, and a restraint procedure team had responded to the incident.  No restraint procedures had initially been in place.  The matter had been reviewed both internally and externally, and improvements had been made in certain areas.  The reviews had found that the level of training had been appropriate.  Mr Merker extended an invitation to the Committee to undertake a site visit of any of the facilities run by the Trust in order to see for themselves how they operated.

In reply to a comment concerning staffing levels in the Stonebow Unit, Mr Merker said that whilst there was an issue of safe staffing levels in any ward, the Unit had to report on a weekly basis both externally and internally on staffing levels, and if staff had concerns, they were encouraged to voice them.  He undertook to provide the Committee with a briefing note on the situation as soon as possible. 

·         That staff were flexible in their case workloads, and were encouraged to discuss concerns that they might have over their caseloads.  In reply to a further question, Mr Merker suggested that, in order to address questions as to how adult and older people mental health services worked with primary care and GP’s, a session should be held with clinicians who were delivering services on the front line. The Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG) was investing in Dementia care, and the Trust had been able to target waiting times, which had been reduced to four weeks.  Support was offered during the subsequent interim period until a diagnosis was provided, which should be no longer than eight weeks.

• That there were three wards at the Stonebow Unit, one Adult and two Older People wards.   The bed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

To receive a report on the outcomes of the Department for Education (DfE) Review, the Herefordshire Safeguarding Children’s Board (HSCB) Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Diagnostic and an update on the progress to date on the Ofsted Action Plan.

The Committee received a report on Children’s Safeguarding, and in particular the outcome of the Department for Education (DfE) Review conducted on 15 and 16 December 2014, the outcome of the Herefordshire Safeguarding Children’s Board (HSCB) Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Diagnostic. 

The Head of Safeguarding and Review highlighted the following areas:

·         That the business support resourcing issue mentioned in the DfE letter had been addressed by an increase in available business support and improvements in Frameworki.  This was an area that would be monitored carefully.

·         That the Voice of the Child was an important message that should be taken up by the next Administration and Council.

The Director of Children’s Wellbeing said that she was pleased with the change in staffing ratios outlined in the ‘Journey to Good’ report, and agency staff were now 31% of the establishment number.  There would be a need to employ more agency staff in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and the Children in Need team, to ensure caseloads remained low. The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub was beginning to specialise in some areas. Its first specialism was in the area of child sexual exploitation.

There was still a long way to go in order to reach the target, and it was important that the next Council should have cross party involvement in the process.

In reply to a question, the Cabinet Member (Young People and Children’s Wellbeing) said that the Journey to Good could be hampered should elected Members and Council lose sight of their corporate responsibility to maintaining children’s safeguarding as a top priority for the organisation.  The Improvement Board would no longer be overshadowing the Children’s Safeguarding Board. The new Chairman of that Board, when appointed, would be leading an increase in the pace of change.

Resolved:

That:

a)    The outcome of the Department for Education Review conducted on 15 and 16 December 2014 be noted;

b)    The outcome of the Herefordshire Children’s Safeguarding Board Local Government Association Peer diagnostic conducted between 17-19 November 2014 be noted; and;

c)    Progress to date on the Ofsted Action Plan be noted.

To consider a proposal for mandatory corporate parenting and safeguarding training for all Councillors.

The Committee received a report on a proposal for mandatory corporate parenting and safeguarding training for all Councillors.

The Cabinet Member (Young People and Children’s Wellbeing) commented that this measure would ensure that training in this area would remain a priority for the Council.  Training that had been undertaken over the years had been poorly attended, and Group Leaders had agreed that this was an alternative way forward that would help to ensure that the Council could ensure it provided good governance in relation to this priority.

Resolved: That the principle of mandatory training for elected Members in respect of safeguarding and corporate parenting be endorsed

To update the Committee on the timeline for the Care Act implementation and progress on local implementation activities.

The Committee received a report on the timeline for the Care Act implementation and progress on local implementation activities.  The Director for Adults Wellbeing highlighted the following areas:

·         That the National public awareness campaign would start on the 9th February, and would cover both local and national media.

·         That, apart from the changes to funding, most of the Care Act had been implemented in 2014.  The funding cap would be in place by 1 April 2015.

Resolved: That the report be noted

To receive a report from Healthwatch Herefordshire

The Committee noted the Healthwatch Herefordshire report.  In reply to a question, the Independent Chairman said that Healthwatch was supportive of community pharmacies, and that he had been actively involved in their forum meetings. 

Resolved: That the report be noted

To receive the Committee’s Work Plan.

The Committee noted its Work Programme.

Resolved:

That

a)    the Work Programme be approved;

b)    consideration be given to a Task and Finish Group on Transport for Health and Social Care; and;

c)    a visit to the Stonebow Unit be organised.