Agenda item

Sarah McClinton, Director of Adult Social, will present and take questions.

7.1  Sarah McClinton, Director of Social Care, and Ray Boyce, Head of Older People's Services, showed a video and spoke about the council’s emphasis on relationships and care homes being part of the community.

7.2  A member asked how closely the council work with homes which are not compliant,  and what penalties are imposed. Sarah McClinton said that there can be daily visits, including at night and Out of Hours. The emphasis is on developing a quality improvement programme working alongside care home providers; rather than saying what is wrong. The council’s role is different to CQC, which is regulatory and can impose penalties.  The officers said that the council also works with individuals. A member asked if officers looked at developing good practice across Southwark care homes and officers said that they did do this , including developing leadership across the piece, as well as good practice from other local authorities.

7.3  A member commented that he is concerned that CQC is not always right and asked about other measures. He added that he is pleased that GP’s are being commissioned to work in homes. Sarah McClinton responded that the council is not reliant just on CQC; there is the care home support team, which the council is expanding and strengthening by adding a social work, pharmacy, and mental health capacity.

7.4  Officers were asked how information is shared and they explained that on a day to day basis CQC inform the council and vice versa. There are also safeguarding and quality processes to raise concerns and a group t meets regularly;  this includes key people such as the CCG & CQC.

7.5  A member asked officers if the Lay Inspectors go to all homes or only some.  Officers responded that Lay Inspectors are funded by Age Concern and only focus on older people and that the learning difficulties service is exploring peer support. She added that that Mental Health has quite a lot of peer support, but she was less sure about arrangements here as the council does not commission mental health care homes.

7.6  Officers were asked why Cherry Croft home was closed. Officers reported that the council’s social workers, CQC, and nursing staff worked on an improvement plan for sometime, however was insufficient progress, with the home requiring considerable capital and social investment. Ultimately the council and the care home owners came to a mutual agreement to close. There were four southwark residents there. A member voiced concerns that the care home had not conveyed the extent of the problems, nor had officers. Sarah McClinton said that she recalled that the council was clear. The member stressed the importance of open and  honest communication and officers responded that it was a complicated and sensitive situation, with a meeting being held because many relatives were unhappy and didn't want the home to close;  the council had a group of older people with dementia and who were frail to look after. The member responded that he appreciated the difficulties; however this is not the first case, there was another care home in a similar situation when he was an executive member, where concerns about closer were raised by relatives. He suggested better communication, particularly with ward councilors.

7.7  Members asked how CQC alerts and concerns generally with homes could be conveyed to members. Julie Timbrell, the Scrutiny project manager,  commented that the scrutiny team will be working to alert ward councilors and the committee to CQC concerns. Sarah McClinton emphasized the importance of ward councilor’s involvement to take action by visiting and also celebrating the positive.

7.8  A member asked about people placed out of the borough. Sarah McClinton commented that there is not a lack of supply for older people - but some older people might be exercising a choice. However she added that there is a cohort of people with learning difficulties that the council is looking to move back, including people at Winterbourne View.

7.1  Officers were asked about the training provided to care homes and staff. Officers explained that the council did provide ‘my home life’ training and social care is also working with the council’s Organizational Development department– however there is a balance: these are private providers. Member asked if basic standards were adhered; and officers said yes, for example training around Safeguarding, furthermore nursing homes are required to ensure a proportion is qualified nurses.

RESOLVED

Officers will provide more information on any peer support/ lay inspection quality improvement measures for homes for people with mental health needs.