All committee members were present. 

Apologies were noted from Councillor Yolande Watson, cabinet support member - adults and communities.

To receive details of any member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a member of the committee.

There were no substitutes.

To receive any declarations of interests in respect of schedule 1, schedule 2 or other interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2020.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2020 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the chairman.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

No questions had been received from members of the public.

To receive any written questions from councillors.

No questions had been received from councillors.

To consider the draft Market Position Statement 2020-2025 for Adults and Communities and to determine any recommendations that the committee wishes to make.

The head of care commissioning presented the Market Position Statement 2020-2025, the principal points included: the statement was not a statutory duty of the council but was considered good practice; the statement was aimed at providers to indicate the strategic direction for the council and to enable providers to align their business plans to meet needs and demand now and in the future; this statement was more diverse than the previous iteration, with greater emphasis on the strengths based approach, technology enabled living, and prevention; attention was drawn to the implications of the ageing population and increasing demand on services, with the consequential need to explore alternative models of support and locality based commissioning responses; providers needed to engage with people on their health and care needs as individuals, rather than centring on particular conditions or disabilities; the commissioning intentions section was an important part of the document and reflected the council’s move to an all ages commissioning approach; further analysis and information for providers would be available through the Understanding Herefordshire website in due course (https://understanding.herefordshire.gov.uk); feedback had been received from other consultees and the statement would be updated accordingly.

The chairperson welcomed the report and invited questions and comments from attendees, the principal points included:

i.           A committee member commented that falls had been an enduring issue and questioned the progress that had been made.  The head of care commissioning provided an overview of the work that had been undertaken and reported that a project was underway, led by the director for adults and communities, to establish an effective system wide falls prevention approach.

ii.         A committee member said that an overriding theme was the council’s reliance on its partners and sought assurances about the resilience of the care home sector and of Primary Care Networks (PCN).

In terms of care homes, the head of care commissioning advised that the council was working continuously with the provider sector on business continuity planning and, whilst noting the significant impact on the sector nationally and locally, said that the implications of Covid-19 on long term goals and aspirations were uncertain at this stage.  The assistant director adult social care operations said that the document set out some of the different models and approaches that would be needed in order to sustain the increase in demand, and the development of the council’s own services and accommodation offer would be key to managing this. 

The assistant director all ages commissioning advised than an unforeseen outcome of Covid-19 was that system working, out of necessity, had improved vastly to ensure that citizens and providers were supported and protected.  The relationship with the PCNs was described as now being much stronger and the PCNs were more forthcoming in their approach; references were made to the provider forum and the Enhanced Health in Care Homes programme.

The assistant director all ages commissioning contrasted the local pattern of care home ownership with the national position, confirmed that care home sustainability was monitored carefully, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

To consider the committee’s work programme.

The chairperson reported that committee members had considered potential items of business and priorities at a scrutiny work programming session, held on 20 November 2020, and outlined the updated work programme, as follows.

11 January 2021      Agenda item on: 2021/22 budget.

29 March 2021         Agenda items on: emergency and urgent care; and carers strategy review.

(tbc) May 2021         Agenda items on: mental health; and learning disability services.

21 June 2021           Agenda items on: out of hospital care; and domestic abuse strategy.

It was suggested that an all-member seminar be arranged on Talk Community and written briefing notes were requested on: Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board annual report; sexual health service; and substance misuse.

The chairperson drew attention to the schedule of recommendations and responses, in appendix 1 to the report, which had been updated to reflect the recommendations made at the last meeting in relation to ‘suicide prevention strategy implementation’ and thanked the head of community commissioning and resources and the cabinet member – health and wellbeing for their prompt and full responses.

Resolved:  That

1.         The work programme for 2020/21 be agreed; and

2.         The updated schedule of recommendations and responses be noted.

The next scheduled meeting is Monday 11 January 2021, 2.30 pm.

Monday 11 January 2021 at 2.30 pm *

[* note: this meeting was moved to Wednesday 13 January 2021 at 10.00 am subsequently]