Issue - meetings

Adult social care had been at the frontline of the Covid pandemic response for the past two and a half years.  Whilst guidance for businesses and the public had relaxed, adult social care was still responding to significant demand, part of which had built up during the pandemic.  In addition, during the past 7 months the Government had published a number of reforms, white papers and legislative changes which required a different response to the delivery of adult social care services.  The Cabinet report provided an update on the current position of adult social care services in Buckinghamshire.

RESOLVED –

That the latest developments in relation to adult social care both locally and nationally be NOTED.

Adult social care had been at the frontline of the Covid pandemic response for the past two and a half years.  Whilst guidance for businesses and the public had relaxed, adult social care was still responding to significant demand, part of which had built up during the pandemic.  In addition, during the past 7 months the Government had published a number of reforms, white papers and legislative changes which required a different response to the delivery of adult social care services.  The Cabinet report provided an update on the current position of adult social care services in Buckinghamshire.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing reported that it outlined the Council’s financial pressures which reflected the issues being faced by Children’s Services, increasing complexity of cases, inflation which impacted on providers and contracts and the rise of safeguarding inquiries and referrals. The Council worked in partnership in this area and reference was made to the work of the Health and Wellbeing Board which focused on prevention and the Start Well, Live Well, Age Well Strategy. Another pressure was the Reform agenda coming down from Government. Reference was made to the White Paper ‘People at the heart of care’ which set out a ten year ambition to ensure that everyone received the appropriate care they needed when they need it and would involve additional work for the Council. The Health and Care Act 2022 aimed to improve integration between health and social care. With the social care reforms residents would see a welcome cap on care costs which would help residents manage more carefully the total costs they would need to spend on care and provide assistance to self-funders, of which there was a high proportion in Buckinghamshire. The Act set up the Integrated Care System of which a partnership had been set up in Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. There are other new pressures such as the Inspection Regime by the Care Quality Commission which would commence in April 2023. Liberty protection safeguards would also be introduced which was part of the Mental Capacity Act protecting people’s rights in hospitals and care homes. There were other Acts coming through Parliament such as the Down Syndrome Act and the Mental Health Reforms. Recruitment was also an issue but the service area were actively addressing this with a wide range of initiatives and a Strategic Workforce Plan. There was a robust transformation plan to help with these changes.

During discussion the following points were made:

·         There was a statutory duty to provide and in terms of staffing and being able to cover the casework load there was obviously a preference to have staff who were permanent and committed to Buckinghamshire. However agency staff did help support the caseload work. The Leader through the County Council Network  lobbied the Government to bring forward a Workforce Plan and to ensure that the unfunded burdens that were emerging through the new policies were adequately funded. All upper tier Councils were facing the same challenges. Unfortunately there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16