Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Malcolm Graham, Bill Westwood, Ian Renwick, James Duncan, John Pratt, Michael Brown, Sheena Ramsay and Wendy Hodgson

The minutes of the business meeting held on 20 April 2018 and Action List are attached for approval

RESOLVED:

(i)            The minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2018 and the Action List were agreed as a correct record.

It was highlighted that the CAMHS Waiting Times update from Catherine Richardson is to be fed into the Board’s Forward Plan. It was noted that the actions detailed within the agenda have been addressed.

RESOLVED:

(i)            Board members noted the above.

Members of the Board to declare an interest in any particular agenda item.

RESOLVED:

(i)            There were no declarations of interest.

Sarah Gorman of Edberts House attended to update the Board on the ongoing work being delivered by the project. The Chair encouraged all those present to visit Edberts House to see first-hand the positive impact that the project is making on the local community.

An overview of the origins of Edberts House was provided noting the high social deprivation and anti-social behaviour issues within the community in which it is based. Further information was also presented on a similar project on the Old Fold and Nest Estates from Pattinson House.

Details were provided on the variety of funding streams accessed by the projects – this included a grant from the Virgin Ripple fund to pay for a refurbishment. The Board were also advised of the partnership work being done with local services such as the Council’s Economic Development service, GPs and Public Health.

The Board watched a video demonstrating the work being done as part of the Community Linking Project. Following the video Board members expressed their admiration for the work being done by the organisation.

Dave Escott of the Tyne & Wear Fire Service asked if the Fire Service could link in with Sarah’s work; Sarah agreed to make contact to discuss this further. An observation was made that the work highlighted within Sarah’s presentation links to the Reflections on Health & Care Integration report-out, also on the agenda.

It was asked what work is being done to support those who are disabled; it was noted that the project has good links with local social services. It was further noted that those who are supported by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) often have a better chance of claiming eligible benefits. Following this it was highlighted that CAB staff are working with service delivery staff from Edberts House to support their clients and share best practice.

It was said that centrally directed interventions such as Children’s Centres have proven to be ineffective in tackling community issues. It was noted that by working within a localised location – particularly one with high social deprivation has been beneficial. It was suggested that voluntary sector and community groups often prove more effective in delivering services due to a community feeling of mistrust of statutory organisations.

It was asked what work is being done to engage with children and young people. It was said that there is partnership work ongoing between the North East Counselling Service and primary schools with the intention of doing preventative work such as talking therapies. It was noted that there is no quantitative data on this.

It was also asked what the projects plans were in terms of expansion. It was said that expansion would be a positive step to provide services for other areas; however, this was largely dependent on funding availability via charitable trusts.

A comment was made that financial austerity has had a negative impact on community based services. It was noted that, as part of service improvements, frontline staff are being trained to be ‘care navigators’ who  ...  view the full minutes text for item HW28

The Board received a draft of the Children & Young People in Care and Care Leavers Strategy.

The report detailed the vision and principles underpinning the strategy and included feedback from children in care. The key principles identified were:

·           Safeguard the welfare, health and happiness of all children in care;

·           Listen and respond to children and young people’s views and wishes;

·           Provide a stable and supportive home with caring consistent relationships;

·           Have high aspirations for each child and young person;

·           Respect and value diversity;

·           Place children and young people within families whenever possible and as close to the local community as possible;

·           Promote contact with family and friends;

·           Respect and promote children and young people’s rights;

·           Make decisions based on assessments of need;

·           Celebrate children and young people’s achievements.

Seven key priorities were reported to lie at the heart of the strategy:

·           Our Children and Young People are respected and involved;

·           Our placements are safe and meet the needs of our Children and Young People;

·           Positive relationships and identity;

·           Our Children and Young People will be supported to improve their physical and emotional health and wellbeing;

·           Our Children and Young People are encouraged to reach their educational, employment and training potential;

·           Our Young People moving into adulthood will be supported to achieve their full potential in life;

·           Improve our role as the Corporate Parent;

The report also outlined a broader picture of the current services available to support the children and young people in care highlighting that the service was recently rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.

The report further summaries the role of a corporate parent, how corporate parenting works in Gateshead with detail on how the strategy aims to deliver on its priorities.

Emphasis on measuring success was highlighted noting the service aims to find out how well the strategy is working by:

·           Listening and acting on the views of Looked After Children and Care Leavers;

·           Listening and acting on the views of the parents and carers of Looked After Children and Care Leavers;

·           Monitoring and challenging progress through the Corporate Parenting Partnership Board and Corporate Parenting Sub Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

·           Monitoring the trends in Looked After Children and Care Leaver population in order to ensure we have the right support and accommodation for our young people

·           Monitoring the outcomes of Care Leavers to the age of 25 to ensure they are achieving positive outcomes.

It was highlighted that several care leavers have secured apprenticeships at Gateshead Council and are progressing well. A summary of the work being done to support care leavers with housing was also provided, linking up with The Gateshead Housing Company to offer ‘taster flats’.

A comment was made that Board members are all behind this strategy as part of the Councils’ wider ‘Thrive’ agenda.

RESOLVED:

(i)            The Board noted the contents of the report.

Steph Downey delivered a presentation to the Board outlining the findings of the Gateshead Mini System Peer Review.

Key messages were highlighted from the presentation on the review as follows:

·         There could be a clearer understanding of where system leadership sits

·         Frontline staff indicated that IT systems will be crucial going forward on integration

·         Domiciliary care - rural issues – is an issue that we are aware of and seeking to address

·         The review team were impressed that a care worker had taken the initiative to write to Norman Lamb MP to raise issues

·         Market Position Statement – procurement/commissioning. We have a long-term ambition and it will be important to communicate that ambition

·         While there was reference to the financial gap/funding pressures of individual organisations within the local system, there was less reference to the financial picture/pressures for the Gateshead system as a whole

·         Providers had a good relationship with the LA which was transparent and genuine. The level of joint commitment was visible

·         While much progress has been made at a provider level, there is no room for complacency and we need to press on

·         Noted that we are seeking to articulate joint outcomes for the local system to deliver and to move more towards transformational commissioning (rather than transactional)

• It was clear that we are proud of the success of the care homes vanguard work and shown that we are pro-active in building upon that
• We have shown a pragmatic approach – getting on with our own journey whilst things around us (e.g. at CNE level) still remain unclear/uncertain
• It was clear that the person is at the centre of our approach and that local partners share a common purpose
• The passion and commitment of front line staff was very clear from the session the review team had with staff
• Service users reported that the care they received was excellent, though there was a frustration around information available at the outset – leaflets etc. Also, some confusion about the ‘offer’ in some cases (which mirrored the findings from the Council’s own survey)
• Partners seem to understand the position of other partners, tough times are bringing people together
• Encouraged us to be ‘brave’ and to continue on the direction of travel that we have set for ourselves
• In conclusion, very impressed with what they heard during the day and will want to learn from us as well

RESOLVED:

(i)            The Board noted the contents of the presentation.

Reflections on the Health & Integrated Care report-out were summarised as follows:

·         A Gateshead ‘place’ based approach to health and care integration was supported.

·         Proposals to build upon the existing Gateshead Care Partnership to bring commissioners and providers together to secure better outcomes for local people was also supported. The proposed rebranding of the Gateshead Case Partnership was noted in this context.

·         It was felt that it is key to pool budgets and for services to work together in taking this work forward.

·         Noted that work needs to be done to ensure children receive appropriate preventative healthcare so they do not spend their adult lives relying on services.

·         It was highlighted that there is a need to coordinate activity across partner organisations to help prevent things from ‘falling through the cracks’.

·         Opportunities to address the children’s agenda as part of a new Health and Wellbeing Board strategy to be noted.

·         The proposals to approach health and wellbeing holistically across all areas was noted and supported

·         Links to the Council’s ‘Thrive’ agenda were noted and supported where the needs of local people are at the forefront of decision making.

RESOLVED:

(i)           The Board endorsed a Gateshead ‘place’ based system approach to health and care integration that builds upon the report-out from the week-long June workshop and agreed that an initial report on the work plan would be presented to the Health & Wellbeing Board in the Autumn.

(ii)          It was noted that the report-out would be brought to our respective organisations so that they can hear about our proposed direction of travel and to contribute to it.

The Board received an update report on performance within health and social care to enable the Health and Wellbeing Board to gain an overview of the current system and to provide appropriate scrutiny.

It was noted from the report that during April 2017 and March 2018 there were 279 permanent admissions of older people to residential or nursing care compared to a plan of 370 admissions for all of 2017/2018. It was further clarified that this was positive as reduced admissions show that more people are being supported within their own homes. It was requested, however, that the narrative accompanying this indicator be revised for future performance reports so that it is clear whether reported performance represents an improvement or not.

RESOLVED:

(i)            The Board noted the contents of the report and asked that the narrative for the indicator on permanent admissions of older people to residential or nursing care be revised for future performance reports to the Board.

There were no updates to report.

There was no other business.