To submit the report of the Head of Adults, Health and Well-being.
Minutes:
It was noted in accordance with the Committee's decision at its meeting
on 28 September 2017, the Head of Adults, Health and Well-being was present to
discuss DoLS arrangements.
The Head of Adults, Health and Well-being Department noted that the
Senior Enablement Manager had intended to attend the meeting but she was giving
a presentation to Vaughan Gething AM, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social
Services, on the integration work with health at Ysbyty Alltwen.
The Head of
Adults, Health and Well-being noted that he was giving the Committee assurance
that the Department was taking this matter seriously and was committing the
staffing resources that could be contributed towards the work. He explained
that responding to the workload arising from DoLS assessments was challenging
and that the Government may have sensed that the arrangements were more onerous
than what was originally intended. He noted that moving to work within five
Well-being Areas had impacted the delivery of the assessments. It was confirmed
that arrangements were in place to release officers who held the Best
Interest Assessors (BIA) accreditation for a day each month to carry out
one assessment. It was noted that the waiting list for an assessment was
gradually reducing, but that officers had to respond to emergency cases and
there were many occasions where there was a need to revisit after carrying out
a basic assessment.
Attention was drawn to the fact that the possible impact of prioritising
this work over other elements of the Department's daily work needed to be
considered. It was emphasised that staffing arrangements and capacity in the
Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Team were in place and that he was confident
that the work’s momentum would increase to seek to reduce the waiting list.
During the ensuing
discussion, the Head of Adults, Health and Well-being Department responded to
the members' enquiries as follows:
·
Information could be shared on the performance of
completing DoLS assessments at the end of Quarter 3 with members of the
Committee;
·
Although 29 of the Department's staff had qualified
as BIA officers, there was long-term sickness absence, part-time work
agreements, maternity leave and appointments to other posts which meant that
there were approximately 20 officers who were available to complete
assessments;
·
There was a full complement of staff at the
Safeguarding Unit and it would be possible to assess whether the current
assessments had been successful within approximately six months;
·
The situation in terms of a waiting list for DoLS
assessments was commonplace amongst councils across Wales. Some councils had
committed new resources in order to significantly bring down their waiting
lists.
·
Focusing resources on reducing the waiting list
could impact somewhat on the timetable of integrating services with health.
There was a long waiting list for services in South Meirionnydd and it was
difficult to recruit qualified care staff. Changing the timetable could have an
impact therefore there was a need to a strike a balance. It was accepted that
the number on the waiting list for DoLS assessments was a risk but prioritising
the work would impact other waiting lists. There was a need to weigh up and be
logical;
·
There was no ideal
solution but priority would be given to emergency cases. The high risk cases
would be identified and responded to. It was emphasised that most on the
waiting list for DoLS assessments were revisits.
The Audit Manager
noted that the timetable for revisits could vary, with some cases meriting a
re-assessment within a month of the original assessment, depending on the needs
of the individual. He added that the Council was holding training for private
residential homes, leading to an increase in the number of referrals for DoLS
assessments, therefore it was inevitable that the waiting list would increase.
The Head of Adults,
Health and Well-being Department corroborated the above observations, noting
that needs could change and when one case would arise in some private
residential housing, approximately 30 applications for DoLS assessments would
be submitted, and once they were submitted, they needed to be given appropriate
attention.
RESOLVED:
(i)
to accept the
report;
(ii)
that the Controls Improvement Working Group receives an update from the
relevant Senior Managers within six months on the DoLS arrangements.
Supporting documents: