Issue - meetings

To consider the report.

a)    To accept the report, welcome the progress already made since the first audits and thank the care homes’ staff for their service.

b)    Declare concern for care homes’ staffing challenges and problems that emerge as a result of that such as difficulty completing training. 

c)     Ask the relevant department to consider how we can ensure that every home reaches high assurance levels in the future.

d)    Ask for the Care Scrutiny Committee's Chair and Vice-chair to be invited to attend the Governance and Audit Committee meetings in the future when there are discussions regarding care homes’ internal audit reports.

e)    Inform the Governance and Audit Committee members of the observations and decisions of the Care Scrutiny Committee members.

The report was presented by explaining that Cyngor Gwynedd had 13 care homes that supported and cared for adults across the county, and that they were inspected frequently by a wide range of internal and external auditors. It was noted that this report gave specific attention to audits that had been held by the Council's Internal Audit Service and they had inspected three care homes during the 2022/23 financial year. Those homes were Plas Gwilym, Hafod Mawddach and Bryn Blodau. It was explained that the purpose of the audits was to ensure that suitable arrangements were in place for appropriately managing and maintaining the homes in accordance with relevant regulations and standards.

It was explained that the inspections had concluded that the assurance level of the homes in question was limited, therefore there was a need to take steps in order to improve compliance with the controls and to reduce the risks that were highlighted. In response, it was explained that the service had committed to implement actions for mitigating the risks that were highlighted and a list of those actions were provided in the report.

It was noted that follow-up audits had been held in the three homes in question in October 2023 in order to ensure that the service / home had implemented the actions they had committed to. It was confirmed that an improvement was seen in every home but there were further actions to be taken in order to reduce the risk further. It was explained that the number of matters that continued to need attention related to staffing matters, such as training and supervision. It was noted that the situation was challenging and varied between homes. It was confirmed that the situation and individual homes continued to be monitored to ensure that the actions would be implemented.

During the discussion, the following observations were noted:

-        The members expressed their thanks for the report and the progress made since the first audits was welcomed.

-        All care home staff were thanked for their work and commitment to their clients. It was noted that the praise from the people of Gwynedd for the homes was very good and that it was worth noting.

-        Attention was drawn to the fact that the internal audit reports of the care homes were submitted to the Governance and Audit Committee before the Care Scrutiny Committee, and it was proposed that representatives from this committee should attend the Governance and Audit Committee meetings in the future when discussions are about care homes' internal audit reports.

-        Concern was expressed about the fact that only three homes were being inspected annually and it was asked how to ensure standards in homes that are not inspected that year.

o   In response, it was explained that Internal Audits chose three homes at random each year to inspect, and other audits also happened, whether external ones or internal ones by the service.

o   It was noted that the service tried to learn from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6