To receive an update on the quarterly performance and finance status for Health and Social Care.

The Committee is invited to review the risk register as published for the Audit and Governance Committee in March 2023.

Councillor Mary Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

a)     The report provided a comprehensive overview of some of the key performance and activity metrics that were used by the Council and its Partners, including the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Livewell Southwest;

b)    The information within the report was used operationally and strategically by officers and senior managers across all organisations to ensure the best possible outcomes for people using the health and social care system.

Rob Sowden (Senior Performance Advisor), Helen Slater (Lead Accountancy Manager) and Gary Walbridge (Head of Adult Social Care and Retained Functions) delivered the report, and highlighted the following points:

c)     Referral demand for Livewell Southwest’s services had remained steady and staff had been working to reduce waiting lists, evidenced by a decline in waiting lists for adult social care support and adult social care occupational therapy;

d)    Nearly 90% of people referred into social care would not go onto receive long-term adult social care support, so it was important to have alternative long-term care in the community, supported by the Care for Plymouth model;

e)     The number of people in the community waiting for a domiciliary care package had reduced despite a general increase in demand;

f)      On average in 2022/23, 66% of people left the reablement service with no ongoing needs, which was the most desired outcome;

g)     There was a challenge in relation to long term admissions and placements into residential and nursing care in 22/23 with admissions of people aged 65 and over increasing by 57%. Work was being undertaken with partners to better understand the factors behind this;

h)    The number of people in receipt of a supported living package was increasing, but the waiting list remained low;

i)      The number of people in receipt of direct payments was increasing, which was positive as it allowed people to spend money on care they wanted to receive. Plymouth was expected to level the benchmarking averages by the end of the financial year 2023/24;

j)      Safeguarding outcomes were fed into the quarterly Plymouth Safeguarding Adults Board. There had been a drop in cases requiring a full investigation in 2022/23, which had been attributed to an in-service review with partners to ensure best quality of the investigation process;

k)     96.9% of people in 2022/23 who were subject to abuse and thus a safeguarding investigation, had seen their safeguarding personal outcomes achieved partially or fully;

l)      Section 42 of the Care Act related specifically to safeguarding and set out the responsibilities and duties of the Council. A Section 42 inquiry would occur when the concern was significant enough to be investigated to ensure the safety of the person in question;

m)   Complaint numbers were monitored on a monthly basis but had remained relatively static;

n)    The Adult Social Care survey had been completed in February/March 2023 and Plymouth had consistently outperformed its similar local authorities, as well as the national and regional averages;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6