Minutes:
5.1 Shaun Gordon gave the sub-committee a general overview of the meeting with Stephen Burke, Chief Executive of Unite For All Ages on 21 April 2011
5.2 Stephen Burke was asked to focus on the ‘bigger picture’, such as the transformation of adult social care services, including personalisation and the current budget shortfall scenarios facing local councils. Further, he was asked to reflect on local services, and share examples of good practice, in London, where possible, of how councils are shaping older people’s services. To help him better understand some of the issues scrutiny members are interested in, he was shown copies of the Adult Social Care vision and equality impact assessment agreed by the Council Assembly in February 2011, and two consultation papers relating to day services issued by the Council in February 2011.
5.3 Themes and issues emerging from the conversation included:
5.4 Bigger picture – what activities is Southwark carrying out to move people out of hospital settings into community settings? Further questions that scrutiny members might consider asking included:
· Where is the money being spent in the Southwark health and social care system, particularly on residential care? How do admission numbers to residential care homes in Southwark compare to other authorities?
· How are placements managed? How are people admitted? How are people discharged?
· What is the prospect of achieving saving in this area – where percentage savings are larger in cash terms, over budgets for community-based services?
· How good are Southwark’s adult social care department at commissioning older people’s services? What is being commissioned to help people stay out of hospital?
5.5 Bigger picture – how is Southwark transforming support and care arrangements? Further questions might include:
· Are you helping local people to access personal support and care? If you are tightening eligibility (which has not been done for 2011/2012), what support is there for people in the community with lower needs?
· Has the Southwark Circle model been evaluated? Are there other models which may complement or improve the Southwark Circle model?
· How does Southwark evaluate the success, or otherwise, of community projects, such as the Southwark Pensioners Centre – is this type of model of community service compatible with reconfigured services.
5.6 Bigger picture – how is Southwark engaging with its wider, older people’s communities, beyond those currently accessing services? Further questions might include:
· Is Southwark investing time in listening to local people as well as to 3rd sector organisations in designing new services and ways of delivering services?
· Is Southwark supporting 3rd sector organisation to reconfigure the way they work in order to meet new demands?
· What do local people need, and how do you know? Is it support in and around the home, such as house repairs, cleaning, gardens or shopping, or is it in the community, such as social interaction? Who have you asked?
5.7 Local issue – are support and care services financially sustainable? Further questions might include:
· Might older people pay fees / charges for some services?
· Do older people / their carers know about availability of services? Where do people go for advice and information?
· What range of techniques for disseminating advice and information exist? How do you know they work? Are there other ways? Have you asked how people might want to access this information?
5.8 Local issue – a wider Older People’s Strategy, is there one?
· Links in the Older People’s Strategy with Trading Standards, e.g. kite-marking of local traders, Fire and Rescue Services, e.g. home safety, Police Services, e.g. home security, use of Telecare services given the most accidents occur in the home, Housing issues, i.e. better use of sheltered accommodation premises, as well as asking is your home “warm, safe and dry?”, Leisure Services, for example links to projects such as BTCV Green Gym, Children’s Services, e.g. inter-generational working.
· Is there a continuing role for places, such as day centres, where people can meet, or are there other civic / municipal buildings, such as schools and libraries, or other places, such as cafes or pubs which provide the same sort of arrangements and atmosphere?
· There is an obligation on public services to maximise the income of vulnerable groups, such as older people. How do benefits advice services dovetail with other older people’s services, and are they asking questions such as, “Are people getting the benefits and income they are entitled to?” and, “Do these services embrace befriending?”, which is a good way to help older people with these issues.
· Given that many of Southwark’s day centres are aimed at specific communities, i.e. Somalis or Cypriots, is there any evidence of a tail-off in participation by older people from these individual communities when day centres are closed and alternative arrangements involve meeting places such as pubs or cafes? Are the Council’s proposals the right proposals for this generation of people?
·
Aged 50+ services typically have a 40-year spread, being aimed at
people aged from 50 to 90+. Perhaps the focus of services / support
should be aimed at more vulnerable people, the aged 80+
community?
5.9 Local issue –
supporting 3rd sector organisations
·
In so far as being able to respond to the delivery of personalised
services,
how does Southwark support 3rd sector organisations? Is
there any advice or guidance on how 3rd sector providers
can work together, through partnership arrangements, to meet the
needs of older people? An example of good practice shared is
Lambeth’s ‘Survive and
Thrive’.
5.10 Local issue – supporting
families and carers
· What advice, guidance and support does Southwark offer to family members and carers?
o Access to respite breaks and planned time-off?
o Flexible arrangements and emergency support?
o Does the Council work with employers, for those carers who are employees?
o How does the Council support older people who themselves are caring for older people?
·
Does Southwark promote generic services, such as Carers Direct, who
host a contacts directory, and lots of useful information? Or
Crossroads Care?
5.11 Local issue – listening to
older people
· How does the Council involve older people in the shaping, design and delivery of older people’s services?
· Of Southwark’s older population, how many older people engage through Southwark Circle, and what engagement opportunities exist for those who wish to have a voice, but not through Southwark Circle?
· Are older people supported to develop micro-enterprises for other older people, for example see the NAAPS website (formerly National Association of Adult Placement Schemes), http://www.naaps.org.uk/
· Has Southwark explored Community and Homeshare initiatives? (See NAAPS website, too).
5.12 Local issue – Planning for later life
· How do Southwark’s strategies, policies and services keep local people healthy and active?
· Is Southwark actively supporting people who are getting older? For example, through active retirement projects? Helping older people to stay fit? Better able to manage the onset of dementia? Tackling loneliness and exclusion?
· How might Southwark provide support in the future to people with low or moderate needs, who might otherwise be isolated, and so miss out on some of the benefits of older people’s services?