Stephen Beet (Head of Adult Social Care and Retained Functions) and Emma Crowther (Service Director for Integrated Commissioning) delivered the Quarterly Performance Report to the Panel and discussed:

a)    Performance of statutory health and care functions was reviewed on a monthly basis with Livewell SW, and an improvement plan was in place;

b)    The Council had not yet received its first Care Quality Commission (CQC) review however, a Local Government Association (LGA) peer review was planned for January 2025;

c)    Referral numbers remained stable however, there remained a delay in Livewell’s contact centre responses. A ‘Waiting List Work Stream’ was in place to increase efficiency;

d)    The number of overdue assessments and unallocated assessments had reduced however, there was further work required to reduce these delays;

e)    Care Package Review numbers had remained stable, with the oldest review conducted in 2022;

f)     The ‘Waiting List Work Stream’ was developing a ‘Waiting Well Protocol’ to manage risk for those on a waiting list, as well as strategically prioritising work;

g)    The primary causes of delays were high demand, and a historic backlog created during the Covid-19 pandemic;

h)    People could pay privately for an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment to avoid joining the Livewell waiting list however, this did not give them any priority over others for follow-on services;

i)     Safeguarding referrals had reduced and their appropriateness had increased;

j)     The Safeguarding triage team and Livewell safeguarding team were being integrated into one team to increase oversight and reduce delays;

k)    The number of people in Residential Nursing Care was reducing, while Domiciliary Care numbers had started to increase. This was likely due to the success of efforts to provide care in the community;

l)     The business case for the recommissioning of the Residential Care Commissioning Plan had been taken to Cabinet in September, and engagement with care homes and residents was ongoing;

m)  Direct Payments performance remained positive, with figures above target and national average, at 25%;

n)    Reablement waiting lists and referrals had reduced, resulting in surplus capacity. Investigations were being undertaken to analyse the cause, and considerations were being given to expand accessibility to those in the community;

o)    Complaint numbers remained low and work was ongoing between Livewell SW and PCC to improve complaint handling and responses, as well as identifying common themes for improvement;

p)    ‘No Criteria to Reside’ figures had experienced a slight increase in September across Plymouth and Cornwall;

The Panel agreed to request that Livewell SW attend the next meeting to provide further analysis of performance figures, demand, capacity and improvement efforts.

Helen Slater (Lead Accountancy Manager) delivered the Quarterly Finance Update for Health and Adult Social Care and discussed:

q)    The Adult Social Care budget was the largest within the Council, at over £100M, including £120M for Care Packages;

r)    The Month Five position for Care Packages detailed a £136K favourable variance, with the main savings derived from Residential Care. There were ongoing pressures regarding Client Income, with a potential pressure of £3MM. Work was ongoing to mitigate and offset these pressures.

The Panel agreed to note the report.