Agenda item

To consider the report of the Corporate Director Social Services.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Social Services.

The Director of Social Services presented the report which updated Members on the work and decisions taken over the last 6 months by the Regional Partnership Board, developed under statutory guidance Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (SSWB Act).

A Member referred to delays in patients returning home from hospital.  The Head of Adult Services said Homefirst provided rapid turnaround and operated in A&E departments. Working collaboratively provided accelerated assessment to safely discharge people from hospital with clear pathways for residents which made a significant difference, however, in terms of discharge from hospitals the five local authorities operated in different ways. The Authority was operating a pilot project on behalf of other local authorities which placed dedicated staff on hospital wards to directly action any reasons for delay.  Staff had reported that this pilot project was successful.

Another Member raised concerns regarding vacancies in nursing homes and felt that some patient’s families felt pressurised into choosing a nursing home quickly.  The Head of Adult Services said that there was a number of Care Homes with vacancies, Officers from the Department contacted Care Homes directly for weekly updates which identified vacancies within their Care Home and Social Workers based in hospital wards could help with this information.  The Health Board had a clear discharge policy that families identify three Care Home placements, one must have a vacancy and expected families to be proactive in identifying these placements.  

The Head of Adult Services agreed to speak with the Member outside of the meeting regarding individual cases.

The Corporate Director of Social Services commented that the Living Independently Strategy had been the Authority’s ethos for many years.  The best route for patients was to return home, however, long term decisions would need to be made in terms of Care Home placements.

Councillor Jonathan Millard left the meeting at this juncture.

The Head of Adult Services advised Members of the current data in relation to Care Home vacancies i.e. 12 vacancies in Care Homes across the Borough, 21 vacancies in dementia homes and 7 in EMI nursing homes.

In response to a Member enquiry regarding the new Grange Hospital, the Director of Social Services said that some discussion had taken place but there was a lack of information available regarding what services would be provided at the hospital but colleagues from the Regional Partnership Board felt that information on services at the new facility would be forthcoming.   There was concern regarding travel links to the new hospital, i.e. people may need to take up to three buses to attend the hospital but this would be a concern across Gwent.

The Member said that he had received correspondence regarding the travel links to the hospital which had indicated improvements to Cwmbran Railway Station but the Member had concerns as this was a different line. 

In relation to Mental Health services a Member commented that he welcomed the progress made with the Iceberg model.

With regard to Transformation funding the Director of Social Services said that the Department was looking at different models and Blaenau Gwent was at the forefront and had the ability to implement them.  Some funding was only confirmed at a late stage which made it difficult to implement some of the large schemes within the timescale and these concerns had been fed back to the Welsh Government.  As with many projects there was some slippage and the Department had put in some slippage bids.

Another Member commented that he welcomed the investment for the new hospital, however, some parts of the Borough were semi rural and it was imperative that good transport links to the new hospital from Blaenau Gwent and neighbouring authorities were implemented.

In response to a Member’s enquiry regarding recruitment issues, the Director said that in some instances staff were seconded into posts but this had an impact on the service they left. Some staff were reluctant to leave existing posts for a short term funded post and most people wanted a permanent role even those in temporary positions.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1, namely that the decisions of the Regional Partnership Board be supported.