Agenda item

This item provides an update on progress locally implementing the Winterbourne Concordat.

Sarah McClinton, Director of Adult Social Care, introduced the item, outlining how the Winterbourne Concordat sets out a series of actions that local systems are expected to take in order to ensure that there is a joint strategic plan to commission a range of housing and health care services to better meet the needs of this group of most vulnerable people. She referred to the letter from Norman Lamb which set out very clearly the leadership role for the health and wellbeing board, and reported that the local stocktake, which was completed in July, was signed off by Andrew Bland, Chief Officer of NHS Southwark Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and Councillor Peter John, Leader of the Council, on behalf of the system and returned on that basis.

The director explained that she chaired a working group which had identified a cohort of 22 adults and 8 children and young people whose experience the council want to change.  She reported that each individual has had a very good quality joint review, and there are good plans in place in order to help those people who need it to move to the least restrictive settings. In addition, the director highlighted the broad and inclusive approach locally, so that the working group is also looking at all people known locally to have challenging needs, learning disabilities or autism so that, as a system, the council can make sure that it is creating local services that can offer compassionate and caring environments for people so that there is reduced need and prevention from people needing hospital settings in the future. The stocktake also threw up a range of strategic questions for the board, particularly around the integration agenda, such as pooling funding or integrating commissioning.

The board sought and received assurance from the director that all clients in assessment and treatment centres were being properly looked after and that there was no sense that the neglectful experience that occurred at Winterbourne View was affecting the council’s own clients.

The board discussed the report, in particular the challenges around integrating across a complex, fragmented pathway of care. Professor John Moxham highlighted the multiple inputs, providers and funding sources, with members agreeing that the focus was, and should remain, on how agencies work together to achieve the best possible for people rather than where the costs fall. Sarah McClinton cited the example of the establishment of a jointly funded community based crisis response service to support hospital admissions avoidance.

Romi Bowen, in acknowledging the later agenda item on integration, highlighted that the borough did have experience of an integrated culture and advised that the board used the learning of what works and does not going forward, to develop the next iteration of integration locally.

RESOLVED:

1.  That Southwark’s Winterbourne Concordat stocktake and the associated action plan for improving services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour as set out in appendices 2 and 3 of the report be noted.

2.  That a progress report be received in six months time on the development of more integrated health and social care services to provide appropriate community based provision for this client group.