Agenda item

To receive and consider two reports, the first being report of the Report of the Head of Policy and Performance which presents the key performance information against the Leeds Strategic Plan improvement priorities relevant to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board for Quarter 3 2009/10, the second being the Report of the Chief Officer for Health and Environmental Action Services which presents quarter 3’s  performance information on the delivery of schemes to tenants and owner occupiers and information on concluded Ombudsman Inquiry into adaptations.

The Head of Policy and Performance submitted a report presenting the key performance information against the Leeds Strategic Plan improvement priorities relevant to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board for Quarter 3 2009/10,

In addition to the above report, the Board also received a report of the Chief Officer for Health and Environmental Action Services which presented quarter 3’s  performance information on the delivery of adaptation schemes to tenants and owner occupiers and information on concluded Ombudsman inquiries.

(a)  Performance Report Quarter 3 2009/10

The following representatives were in attendance and responded to Members comments and queries:-

Sandie Keene, Director of Adult Social Services

Dennis Holmes, Deputy Director Strategic Commissioning

Stuart Cameron-Strickland, Head of Policy, Performance and Improvement

In summary, specific reference was made to the following issues:-

• PI Ref No NI 123A/123b - Current smoking rate prevalence – the downward arrow represents an improvement.
• PI Ref No NI 142 – Percentage of vulnerable people who are supported to maintain independent living – clarification of the figures and the reasons why it was  on a downward trend

• PI Ref No LKI –SS35 – Adult and older clients receiving a review as a percentage of those receiving a service – the need for more progress in this important area

(The Director of Adult Social Services responded and confirmed that the department were falling short in this key area, however a commitment had been given to improve the statistics over the next 12 months)

• PI Ref No NI 133 – Acceptable (DH) waiting times for care packages – the concerns expressed that waiting times would continue to increase and that this target may soon go into red

(The Director of Adult Social Services responded and also shared the Board’s concerns in this area which was impacted by the speed of availability. The Board noted that this was subject to serious budget challenges in the coming months ahead)

• PI Ref No NI 135 – Carers receiving needs assessment or review and a specific cares service – the concern expressed that the funds for this target had not been ring-fenced.

(The Director of Adult Social Services responded and informed the meeting that this target had no relevance to the available budget. She confirmed that the department were providing a high level of support for carers)

• PI Ref No LI COM 6A/ 6B/ 8 – The ratio of total safeguarding referrals to total cases completed – clarification of what was happening to these indicators

(The Head of Policy, Performance and Improvement responded and confirmed that the department were continuing to monitor these targets. He informed the Board that the predicted figure had already been achieved this year and that the department were dealing with a proportion of referrals through the Safe guarding process. The Board noted that these were local indicators and not national ones and that there was an impact on other areas in relation to care assessment)

• PI Ref No NI 145 – Adults with learning disabilities in settled accommodation – clarification as to whether or not the process had been completed around PFI provision of new accommodation for people with learning disabilities and whether this has had an impact on data

(The Director of Adult Social Services responded and informed the meeting that PFI is a small part of the settled accommodation provision and that this indicator was based on all those with Learning Disabilities gaining settled accommodation from a number of sources. Accessing the data in this area was quite complex as the scheme had not finished. She outlined the breakdown of the figures reported)

(b)  Major Adaptations for Disabled Adults – Performance on 

  completion time of adaptations schemes – Quarter 3 2009/10

The following representatives were in attendance and responded to Members’ comments and queries:-

Sandie Keene, Director of Adult Social Services

Dennis Holmes, Deputy Director Strategic Commissioning

Helen Freeman, Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services

John Clark, Chief Executive, Aire Valley Homes

In summary, specific reference was made to the following issues:-

• clarification of what the eight cases for Aire Valley Homes represent and the number of homes that Aire Valley Homes were responsible for.

(The Chief Executive, Aire Valley Homes responded and informed the Board that they were responsible for 15,500 homes. He outlined the history of how adaptations were delivered during 2008/9 and  confirmed that 2 million pounds this year would be put into adaptations for 2010/11. The 8 cases referred to represented completed high priority cases in quarter 3 )

• clarification was sought as to whether the statistics represented all cases of just those outside the timescale
• (The Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services responded and provided the meeting with an explanation of the figures outlined in the Adaptations Performance document (Appendix 1 refers)
• the need for the department to present the figures in a clear and concise way for the benefit of Board Members and the general public and to raise concerns about the lack of progress within the last three months on the issue of presentation

(The Board’s Principal Scrutiny Adviser responded and advised that the figures should have been provided in colour and could be produced in colour for future Board meetings. The Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services advised the Board that work had already commenced to formulate  a better way of presenting the information)

• the concerns raised that as result of managing budgets according to demand, the delivery of adaptations on time was not always in every case

(The Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services responded and confirmed that a full process review in the private sector had reduced delivery times significantly in recent years, contributing to a doubling in the number of schemes delivered in the last five years. Also, cases were prioritised by OTs, with highest priority cases receiving greatest attention in terms of speed of delivery. The Board noted that a review was being undertaken with ongoing discussions with all adaptation providers for both ALMO and private sector properties)

• clarification as to whether the trend for adaptations was on the increase

(Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services responded and confirmed that there had been a rising trend in adaptations and the issue was now focused on managing demand and resources)

• clarification of the turnover of properties and the proportion of those which are re-used

(The Chief Executive, Aire Valley Homes responded and informed the meeting that a piece of work was ongoing. He stated that there was a 5% turnover of adapted properties per annum and the ALMO were also looking into recycling measures. It was agreed to take on board the suggestions of the Adult Social Care Board when reviewing reporting mechanisms to potentially include additional  detail in future reports.)

• clarification of the protocol regarding new builds and whether or not there was provision for wet rooms etc

(The Chief Executive, Aire Valley Homes responded and outlined the work on Council involved housing schemes and around life time homes)

• the need for new builds to be up to the standard of life time homes
• the need for a list of adapted properties and for disabled groups to be supplied with this information within the letting scheme
• clarification of the process in relation to high, medium and low priority and the need for the Board to be supplied with a number of examples according to need
• clarification of the average time to complete cases/adaptations

(Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services responded and referred to the figures outlined in Appendix 1 of the report.)

• the concerns expressed that the targets were unacceptable for the city as a whole
• clarification if Adult Social Care looked at alternative provisions to provide bathing and washing support prior to adaptations being installed

(The Director of Adult Social Services responded and made reference to the Social Care Assessment which would address such issues)

• clarification of the types of adaptations which create lengthy waiting times

(Chief Officer, Health and Environmental Action Services responded and outlined the current process and speed of delivery for adaptations. The Board noted that the Adaptations Steering Group were currently working on a city wide Adaptations Strategy)

RESOLVED- 

a)  That the contents of the report of the Head of Policy and Performance in relation to Quarter 3 2009/10 performance reports be noted.

b)  That the contents of the report of the Chief Officer for Health and 

  Environmental Action Services on performance on completion time of 

  adaptations schemes for Quarter 3 2009/10 be noted.