Agenda item

Cabinet Member – Councillor W.Gareth Roberts

To receive a report on the above  (attached).

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, updating members on the action plan stemming from the inspection of the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales into the quality of care and support provided by the Learning Disabilities Service. 

The Leader and the Senior Manager elaborated on the content of the report, and also responded to questions / observations from members. The following main points were raised:-

·         Since the Active Support and the PBS Team is the first team of its kind in Wales, it was noted, once the work of gathering the data has been completed in March 2019, that a report outlining lessons from this model, the outcomes and how it was intended to be developed in future with other counties would benefit the Committee.

·         Close and positive collaboration between the service and the Health Board was welcomed.

·         It was noted that, as regards the weaknesses, the relationship with the specialist occupational therapy services needed to be improved and refined in addressing the needs of adults with more complex and challenging learning disabilities.   Recruiting information and advice officers to the new Preventative Team that would come into force in April 2019, would also need to be considered.

·         It was noted that the service was addressing the financial challenge through a combination of factors, including collaboration with external providers to look at every opportunity to submit grant applications, identify over-provision, review every case the service supports and consider out of county placements.

·         The service's vision and the development work taking place with Dr Sandy Toogood from Bangor University was welcomed.

·         In response to an enquiry into the number of applications for support and assistance that were turned away and why, it was explained that, unlike the historical arrangement where people were turned away if they did not fit into a specific category, the needs would now be met in alternative ways. It was noted that the figures could be looked at in more detail to see whether there could be figures about people who were turned away. It was believed, however, that if needs did exist, they would be met, either by the Learning Disabilities Service or by the Adults Service. It was added that discussions about strengthening the arrangements for those adults where an element of risk existed but who would not necessarily need specialist support were taking place.  It was further noted, when considering the service's data, that information could be found to answer the questions raised by the member and the discussion could be continued with her.

·         Staff members who worked during their own time to assist with groups and evening social opportunities, mainly the cookery groups, were thanked. However, the question was raised as to why that happened in the first place and whether there was a role for the third sector to assist with these kinds of activities.

·         It was noted that the Audit and Governance Committee had looked at the backlog of DoLS assessments and had given the Department a clear message about the need to deal with cases promptly. It was also understood that some social workers were already qualified to carry out DoLS assessments before the recent training and it was asked whether those individuals conducted assessments. In response, it was noted that the department was attempting to ensure that the resources were being allocated to deal with the assessments, especially to give priority to the urgent cases, but that this remained a very challenging field in Gwynedd, as in almost all other Local Authorities. Approximately 30 officers were now able to carry out the assessments, including those who had long since received training.  Considering the questioning at this Committee and at the Audit and Governance Committee, because of the risks involved, the Head agreed to inform the Chair and Vice-chair on progress in this field.

·         The Department was asked to share information with the Committee about the multi-disciplinary Transformation Group.

·         The work that had been carried out over the past two and a half years to address the recommendations in the review of the service was welcomed. The Committee was persuaded that the work was moving in the right direction but, at the same time, it acknowledged that much work still needed to be done.