Julia Brown (Service Director for Adult Social Care), Gill Nicholson (Head of Innovation and Delivery), and Ian Lightley (Chief Operating Officer, Livewell Southwest) introduced the Adult Social Care Performance Monitoring Report and discussed:

a)     Officers had last attended the Panel at the end of January 2026 and, as this update was outside the usual quarterly reporting cycle, the level of change since the previous report was limited;

b)    The report provided an overview of Adult Social Care activity and performance and described how services supported people in Plymouth to live in their own communities;

c)     Performance reflected both progress and ongoing pressures across assessments, reviews, reablement and care delivery;

d)    The focus remained on timely, high quality, person centred support, improved flow through the system and close partnership working with Livewell Southwest and wider system partners;

e)     The report was intended to provide transparent oversight and assurance that services continued to improve and work towards sustainable, high-quality care for residents.

Ian Lightley (Chief Operating Officer, Livewell Southwest) presented the performance data and discussed:

f)      Demand and activity had increased between December and January, as expected, but triage at the front door continued to be completed within five days, and the average time to complete assessments once allocated to a social worker remained strong at approximately 29 days;

g)     Pressure remained between triage and allocation to a social worker, resulting in a slight increase in waiting times, with capacity and caseload pressures identified as the cause rather than processing issues;

h)    Completed reviews increased significantly in January, with 373 completed compared to 263 in December, and reviews continued to be prioritised based on risk, urgency and need;

i)      Performance against national benchmarks was affected by under recording of proportionate reviews where circumstances had not materially changed, and work was underway to improve recording and data accuracy;

j)      Data on reviews resulting in reduced or unchanged care was not yet available due to data quality issues, with further work required before this could be reported in future updates;

k)     Waiting lists for occupational therapy continued to reduce, and the phase one target had been achieved, although the overall number of people waiting remained high;

l)      Work was progressing to separate Adult Social Care Occupational Therapy activity from Health Occupational Therapy activity within the integrated service, with a working document and outline plan now in place;

m)   The number of people in residential and nursing care placements remained higher than forecast at the start of the year, although placement activity had stabilised since November;

n)    Market position statements were being revised to provide improved intelligence on demand and capacity, particularly in relation to complexity of need rather than overall bed numbers;

o)    Work continued to sustain the Care Home Framework introduced in January and the Extra Care contract, supporting greater market stability and financial control;

p)    Domiciliary care packages continued to grow, partly driven by hospital discharge pressures, and a reablement first approach was expected to help stabilise demand and reduce package hours where appropriate;

q)    A new domiciliary care framework was planned for the new financial year to support a more resilient and collaborative provider market;

r)     Reablement outcomes remained strong, with 81.8% of people aged 65 and over remaining at home 91 days after discharge from hospital, and the Reablement First Pilot had commenced with ten individuals. Further outcome data from the pilot would be reported to a future scrutiny meeting;

s)     Uptake of direct payments remained above target, particularly among working age adults, supporting greater choice and control over care arrangements;

t)     Most complaints continued to be received by Livewell Southwest, reflecting its role as the primary delivery organisation, and future reports would seek to include thematic analysis and learning.

In response to questions, the Panel discussed:

u)    How learning from reablement success was being applied earlier in people’s journeys through the reablement first pilot;

v)     Concerns regarding assessment and review waiting times, with confirmation that these related to workforce capacity and caseload pressures rather than processing delays;

w)   The benefit of including benchmarking data against statistical neighbours in future reports;

x)    Complaint themes, including communication and understanding of charging, and the intention to provide deeper thematic analysis at a future meeting;

y)     Capacity within residential and nursing care, with clarification that available beds were often unsuitable for people with complex needs and that inappropriate placements would not be made;

z)     The impact of winter pressures, noting that while correlation was difficult to evidence, some initiatives had helped stabilise activity;

aa)  Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards waiting lists, with confirmation that progress reflected a national position and that individuals remained safe;

bb)Continuing Healthcare funding arrangements, including the existence of a clear national framework and joint assessment processes with NHS colleagues.

Action: Further outcome data from the Reablement First pilot would be reported to a future scrutiny meeting.

Action: Officers to include thematic analysis and learning from complaints received by Livewell Southwest at a future meeting.

The Panel agreed:

1.     To note the Adult Social Care Activity and Performance Report.