Agenda item

The Panel received a report on the draft Adult Social Care Local Account for 2014-15 which set out the achievements made during the year and priorities for 2015-16.

Local accounts were used by councils across the country to assess how well adult social care services were performing as part of the commitment to improve the quality of services and transparency.  The draft Local Account, as attached as Appendix A to the report, included the progress made against the 22 indicators of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework.  The Panel noted progress against the indicators including:

Indicators showing significant improvement:

·  Adults in contact with secondary mental health services who live independently had improved from 85 to 86.9, well above average.

·  Adults with learning disabilities in paid employment had improved from 5.7 to 6.4.

·  People who used services who reported that they had as much social contact as they would like had risen from 37.5 to 39.5, although it was below the family group average of 42.8.

·  Overall satisfaction of carers with care and support had improved from 34.9 to 43.9 which was now above national and comparator averages.

Indicators showing good performance being maintained:

·  Older people who were still at home 91 days after discharge from hospital into reablement/rehabilitation services was 100, compared to the England average of 80.7, and reflected the local priority and joint working arrangements.

·  Increased people going into reablement

·  Permanent admission of older people (aged over 65) to residential and nursing care homes was 570.6 per 100,000 population compared to an average 706.5 across comparator areas.

Indicators requiring further improvement:

·  Proportion of adults receiving direct payments was 16.8 compared to a family group average of 24.7.  Performance was improving and further steps were being taken to increase the number of direct payments.

·  Carer related quality of life had fallen from 8.3 to be 7.9 and this had been identified as a priority area for 2015/16.

·  Carers who reported that they had been included or consulted in discussion had fallen from 72.1 to 67.6 which was below average.

The Local Account also outlined the key priorities for the year ahead which were prevention; information & advice; personalised outcomes; building community capacity; workforce development and quality.  These priorities also linked to the adult social care transformation programme.

The Panel considered a number of issues including the parity between mental and physical health and the provision of respite care.  A Member asked why the number of direct payments remained low and whether the cessation of the previous support service had been a contributory factor.  The Assistant Director responded that a support service for direct payments was being put back in place and it was expected that direct payments would increase.  It was also asked whether it was considered that complaints were taken seriously enough.  It was confirmed that complaints were taken very seriously.  The number of complaints had risen from a historically low base, which was welcomed as any issues needed to be reported and dealt with appropriately.  Any concerns from Members about the handling of individual cases should be raised separately through the proper process.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Panel noted that draft Adult Social Care Local Account 2014-15.

Resolved –  That the draft Adult Social Care Local Account 2014-15 be noted.