Agenda item

      i.         Resolved that the Cabinet would recommend to the Full Council that it adopts the recommendations in the report to be incorporated in the Council Plan.

     ii.         The recommendation to submit the assessment to the Council for approval was approved.

 

The report was submitted by Cllr Dilwyn Morgan.      

 

DECISION

 

               i.         Resolved that the Cabinet will recommend to the Full Council that it adopts the recommendations in the report to be incorporated in the Council Plan.

              ii.         The recommendation to submit the assessment to the Council for approval was approved.

 

DISCUSSION

 

It was noted that this assessment of the needs of the Gwynedd adult population provided a local picture of requirements in Gwynedd rather than the North Wales Population Needs Assessment that had been approved by Cyngor Gwynedd on 3 March 2022.

 

It was explained that the Gwynedd Adults Population Needs Assessment was not a statutory requirement, but it was a useful and important assessment to enable the Council to plan, prioritise and develop new services.

 

It was noted that the document stated the likely percentage of people who would suffer from Dementia between 2020 and 2040 as 34% in Graph 12. In reality the figure was 53%, and the officer apologised for this error in the document and confirmed that it would be corrected as soon as possible.

 

It was confirmed that the assessment addressed the following themes and groups and also took the Welsh language into consideration:

 

·       Older People

·       Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairments

·       Learning Disability

·       Autism

·       Mental Health

·       Carers

·       Violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence

 

It was explained that the assessment detailed particular themes which were considered priorities in the Council Plan. These had been identified as follows:

 

·       Improving individuals' well-being.

·       Improving the support for unpaid carers.

·       Ensuring quality customer care.

·       A shortage of certain types of placements.

·       Recruitment of staff is a huge problem across the care sector.

·       Reconciling data that is kept on systems.

·       Investment in preventative services.

 

Observations arising from the discussion

¾   The officers of the department were thanked for their comprehensive and hard work in preparing the assessment.

¾   A member queried whether we were likely to see a gap emerge between the Council's ability to provide care to adults, and the number of individuals needing our care, considering the fact that the figures for some conditions for Dementia were increasing and the figures of the general population were decreasing.

¾   In response to the comment above, it was confirmed that officers were working closely with the research team in order to ensure that accurate statistics were developed continuously. It was explained that this would enable the Council to plan effectively for the future. It was also emphasised that crisis situations were emerging at present through applications for care settings, the costs of salaries and the increased costs of goods.

¾   A member questioned how the work for the North Wales population needs assessment, a joint project with Anglesey in light of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, and the individual projects by Cyngor Gwynedd would be tied together and that no duplication occurred.

¾   In response to the above question, members were reminded that this assessment for Gwynedd was not a statutory requirement, contrary to the North Wales Population Needs Assessment. The officer elaborated that they believed that the Gwynedd assessment was essential for receiving information about the specific challenges for the County and what differences were emerging within different areas of the county, in order to create efficient plans for the future.

¾   It was confirmed that officers would keep this assessment live in order to continuously update the figures, ensuring that accurate data would be available at all times since the regional assessment was only updated every four years.

¾   Consideration had been given to differences in waiting times for domiciliary care since individuals who lived in Eifionydd were waiting almost three times longer than individuals in the Caernarfon area for domiciliary care. It was stated that the more rural nature of Eifionydd contributed to the statistic, but the situation had improved over the past few months.

¾   Further to the above observation, it was noted that the Council was currently facing difficulties in providing around 15% of domiciliary care needs. It was reported that the Council Plan stated the aim of providing support to individuals through various means, such as technological developments and robotic beds, in order to reduce the demand for domiciliary care.

¾   It was confirmed that the Council would need to take advantage of future technological developments, and also hold regional and national discussions to learn from successes and good practices in other areas and incorporate them in the domiciliary care provision in Gwynedd.

¾   It was noted that the assessment had been carried out jointly with officers from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, and they were thanked for their willingness to work together.