Agenda and minutes

(a)  To approve as an accurate record and the Chair to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Health, Adult Social Care and Social Inclusion PAC held on Tuesday, 12^th September 2017; and

(b)  To note the outstanding actions.

The minutes of the previous meeting was agreed as an accurate record.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Joe Carlebach and David Morton; and Co-optee Debbie Domb.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

Co-optee Patrick McVeigh declared an interest as a recently appointed of Healthwatch, Central West London.

Councillor Rory Vaughan warmly welcomed members of the Disabled People’s Commission (DPC), members of the audience and representatives from both voluntary and public-sector organisations to the meeting.  Tara Flood, Chair of the DPC, led the presentation, accompanied by Patricia Quigley and David Issac.

Tara Flood began by explaining the background to the DPC report, which represented the extensive, collaborative work undertaken over the past 16 months.  The structure of the report was based on information provided by disabled people and detailed key messages and findings, with the focal point being co-production and the next steps required to achieve this.  The DPC had received funding and generous support from the Council but was entirely independent, with a membership drawn from people living in the borough who identified as disabled in some way.  Disabled people were not one homogenous group, variable factors and differences in ability allowed for variation in experiences and co-production challenges, which should place people at the heart of the decision-making process.

Detailing the different stages of the research undertaken, Ms Flood described the three surveys undertaken with disabled people, councillors, staff, and key stakeholders. There had been three public engagement events held in August 2016, including one with young disabled people.  It was explained that the while the report was currently in draft form, the final version would be in a fully accessible, easy read format.  The report contained a message from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, to ensure that change cascaded from the top of the organisation.  The report set out the measures for success, explaining what co-production was, outlining the economic case for supporting co-production, together with identified priority areas. 

Patricia Quigley, DPC Commissioner, described how the report provided a snapshot of the range of barriers that had been reported by disabled people (page 3 of the report), ranging from physical, such as inaccessible stairs, pavement obstacles, inaccessible public transport, to multiple discrimination due to disability, gender, race, age, or LGBT.  Ms Quigley reported that many disabled people felt that no one had taken the time to ask them what they wanted or what they needed.  It was unacceptable that disabled people had little or no say in what services were provided and how.  Worryingly, 60% of disabled people surveyed responded that their quality of life had deteriorated and that they were essentially invisible to decision-makers and 46% felt that they could not influence decision-makers.  More positively, however, 86% reported that they wanted to be more involved in making the decisions affecting their lives.  Of the Council staff surveyed, 94% of staff indicated that they would like to involve disabled residents and 50% felt that there was room for improvement in how this could be achieved. While this was encouraging it was important to work together and that failure to progress this was not an option. 

Ms Flood confirmed that a key message of the report was that decision-makers and service commissioners must work with disabled people, although she  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155.

This is the fourth Annual Report of the Safeguarding Adult Executive Board (SAEB). The multi-agency Board provides leadership of adult safeguarding across the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham; the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; and the City of Westminster.

Councillor Vaughan welcomed Mike Howard, Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Executive Board (SAEB), and Helen Banham, Strategic Lead Professional Standards and Safeguarding Officer.   This was the fourth Annual Report and a key question was whether work of the SAEB had made a tangible difference to the quality of life experienced by people.  The report contained many examples of cases, illustrating how changes had been made and implemented.  It was encouraging to see the number of agencies who had contributed to the annual report, the value of their individual contributions, and the support provided that underpinned the work of the SAEB.

Two key highlights included work with the Community Champions project, on both physical and financial abuse.  The Community Champions were invaluable, and positioned at the heart of the community, they sometimes faced challenging conflicts, talking to friends and neighbours.  Work on hoarding was also highlighted, emphasising the need for an empathetic approach and the value of joint learnings achieved through frequent group meetings. 

In response to questions from Cllr Brown, it was explained that the disaggregation of services and the impact of the Moving On initiative were not included in the report, as this had arisen outside the period covered the period up March 2017.  It was confirmed that the Board in its current form would continue until June 2018.  Lisa Redfern, Director for Adult Social Services, confirmed that preparations were being made to ensure that LBHF would have its own SAEB, from June 2018.

Helen Banham responded to a query from Patrick McVeigh with regards to the Deprivation of Liberty (DoLs) reports and the new system in place.  Most people in nursing care homes were deprived of liberty and in cases where there was confusion or conflict about a placement, these would be reviewed as a priority.  There were approximately three per year and arose from those that were not well-placed.  It was suggested that it would be helpful to have DoLs statistics reported as an appendix to the Annual Report.

Patrick McVeigh asked which agency should be contacted, in a case which fell in the remit of both mental health and trading standards colleagues.  Helen Banham explained that there were few trading standards officers, with a large volume of work and few resources.  They had worked with housing organisations, such as Catalyst, to find ways in which this could be addressed, concurring that more need to be done and the difficulties of working with limited resources.  A recent case highlighted the plight of a lady who had unfortunately died, following a fire in her home caused by a burning candle and large volumes of newspapers. 

Jim Grealy welcomed the report which observed had well-sourced case studies.  He commented that a key role of a GP was to listen and identify signs and suggested that this be highlighted to the CCG and that they be invited to provide and update on this and delayed, unsupported discharges.  Mike Howard referred to page 17 of the Annual Report and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156.

Verbal update – a regular update provided by Healthwatch on local, Hammersmith and Fulham related health concerns and issues. 

Councillor Vaughan welcomed Eva Psychrani, who provided a brief update on the work of Healthwatch.  Key issues highlighted included work on Charing Cross, out of hospital agency support, and the changes to the decision-making powers of the CCG and associated changes to its governance arrangements. Full details of these would be circulated to Committee members in due course. 

The Committee is asked to consider its work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

RESOLVED

That the work programme be noted.

·         Tuesday, 12th December 2017

·         Tuesday, 30th January 2018

·         Tuesday, 13th March 2018

·         Tuesday, 24th April 2018

It was noted that the next meeting would take place on Tuesday, 12^th December 2017.