Agenda item

The Adult Social Care Programme Manager introduced a report that updated on the ASC Transformation Programme.  The Health Scrutiny Panel had considered a report on Tranche 2 of the Transformation Programme at its meeting on 11^th September 2018 and the main comments from Members were noted.

The Transformation Programme had been established to address the significant pressures on the service arising from increased demand, cost and complexity of clients needs.  The programme had delivered £4.814m of the targeted £7.9m of savings between 2015-20 and was on course the achieve the planned savings for the current year.  However, the overall ASC budget was showing a £1m overspend in 2018/19 which reflected the pressures on the service.  The Government’s long term plans to reform adult social care funding had been consistently delayed but were now expected to be published by the end of the year.  The Transformation Programme had introduced a more personalised approach to promote individual wellbeing and the service delivery model had changed to one which focused on neighbourhood based support and care.

The Committee welcomed the increased use of direct payments which gave people more control over their own care.  Members sought reassurance that adequate systems were in place to monitor the payments to ensure they were not misused and the Officer explained the process that was used.  There was a discussion about the plans in place to deal with the winter pressures facing the health and social care system and it was noted that extensive planning and partnership working was in place but that it was expected to be a challenging winter.  In response to a question about how client feedback was used, the Committee noted that it was closely monitored via the annual ASC survey that included questions about the levels of satisfaction from service users.

At the conclusion of the discussion the update was noted.

Resolved –  That details of the update on the Adult Social Care Transformation Programme be noted.