Agenda item

This briefing provides an update from Adult Social Care, Public Health, Children Services and Health services, outlining the provision of services and support to residents affected by the Grenfell Tower block fire. 

This was included in the agenda as a late report, in order to provide the Board with the most up to date picture of the current situation as possible, following the Grenfell Tower fire on Wednesday, 14^th June.  Craig Williams commended the professionalism and dedication of emergency services staff, throughout their handling of fire and its aftermath.  He expressed his sympathies and condolences for residents of the Tower who had been injured or lost loved ones.  Providing an overview, he explained that over 100 families had been allocated a social worker and 220 people had been placed in temporary accommodation.  Support from a number of London boroughs was being provided, with different Councils taking the lead according to their areas of expertise and knowledge; to illustrate, Westminster were leading on communications, Ealing were leading on support for rest centres and an officer from Haringey was providing advice on setting up a Humanitarian Assistance Centre.  Barbara Brownlee, Director of Housing, Westminster City Council, was leading and co-ordinating work on the allocation of accommodation.  It was understood that most individuals and families had been allocated temporary housing, the next step was to find suitable, longer term accommodation, with a view to finding permanent housing for the future. 

In response to a question from Councillor Holder, Mike Robinson gave an explanation of the strategic command structure used by the emergency services and how this was designed to respond to emergency situations.  Bronze command indicated operational control of resources at the site of an incident, silver indicated tactical control and gold undertook strategic oversight and control of the whole incident.  The structure was replicated across all agencies including the police, NHS and local authorities. 

Support on site at the Westway rest centre was continuing, with health professionals co-ordinating care, signposting clinical care pathways and collaboratively working to ensure that efforts were focused on the needs of both individual and family groups. 

There was on-going work to address the impact on residents in the locality, indirectly affected by the fire, particularly those with long term conditions.  There had been anecdotal reporting of increased mental health issues that would require monitoring.  It was noted that CNWL, the mental health provider for RBKC, would lead on this area. 

Janet Cree reported that LBHF GPs had formed part of the local volunteer workforce.  The approach being taken was that those patients located in the area would continue to be seen by their existing practitioner, in order to maintain continuity of care. It was noted that there was one patient registered with an LBHF GP, who was not in the tower but evacuated from the vicinity. 

Janet Cree explained that emotional support was being provided through the allocated key worker.  This will increasingly progress to being outreach work.  Key workers would advise on a case by case basis, referring according to need.  The Mental Health Single Point of Access service was operating as normal and a crises drop in centre would be operational, by Thursday at the latest.

In response to a question from Councillor Holder, Craig Williams explained that the standard discharge process operated.  Once discharged from hospital, they would be first allocated temporary accommodation, then semi-permanent accommodation.  It was noted that the first of these allocations had begun, with offers being made with considerable sensitivity, given that there were still many missing people who had not been accounted for.  Discharges were most difficult with those who were not physically affected but traumatised.  An estimate of up to a 1000 people were evacuated from the vicinity of the tower, from surrounding homes.  Mike Robinson confirmed that officers would provide more information about the level of support available on discharge.

ACTION: Mike Robinson / Janet Cree

In terms of officer support, Children’s Services had taken the lead, with support from ASC.  A rota had been agreed and weekly team meetings arranged, with 8 voluntary social workers available per day.  A “business as usual” plan had been agreed that would release resources but would also ensure continuity of existing provision. 

Officers were working closely with colleagues in housing. Craig Williams confirmed that all affected residents that were known to ASC had now been contacted and will be prioritised.  It was explained that on-going work with partners, voluntary sector agencies and mental health teams would continue to evolve with the aim of ensuring that residents would have access to the support they needed.  It was understood that this might have an impact on discharge teams.  It was also noted that RBKC staff had set up a single point of contact telephone number to ensure continuity and provider information. 

Mike Robinson explained that lists were being compiled, identifying groups of people and the type of help required.  There was also a data and governance issue to consider.  Public Health teams would take a lead on helping to rebuild communities, with the overall aim of being alert to early warning indicators that might indicate that an individual is struggling.  There was a small window of opportunity, where symptoms of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) would manifest themselves at a period of between 4 to 12 weeks.  Most will find that their symptoms will settle but there will be a need for counselling to within this window to prevent any mental health issues from becoming chronic. 

During the course of the discussion, concern was expressed about ensuring that confidentiality regarding medical conditions was maintained, for those residents currently being supported in the rest centres.  This made it difficult to ensure that information could be accurately combined in a database, which they had just begun to do.  Further clarification was also required to ensure that people could access support payments through nominated organisations and that there would be continued co-ordination across the agencies to ensure that assistance is provided to those in need.

Councillor Coleman expressed his thanks to all staff who had volunteered across the boroughs, who had worked professionally and unstintingly, responding to the needs of those affected by the fire.