Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14^th September 2022 were agreed and signed as a true record.

The Board noted that the briefing notes referred to in Minute 11, headed Adult Social Care Annual Report 2021/22 (Local Account) and Minute 12, headed Adult Social Care Customer Experience and Engagement, had been sent to the Cabinet and the Cabinet Member for Adult Services respectively.

Briefing Note

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) received a briefing note and presentation by the Safeguarding Board Business Manager and the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Adults Board, which provided an overview of the Coventry Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2021/22 and Performance Framework.

The Board noted that the Coventry Safeguarding Adults Board (CSAB) is a partnership of organisations that work to both prevent and end abuse of adults with care and support needs within Coventry.

The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to establish a Safeguarding Adults Board for its area, with the objective of protecting adults in its area in cases where the adult a) has care needs; b) is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect; and c) as a result of those needs is unable to protect himself or herself against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.  Under the Care Act 2014, one of the core duties of the Safeguarding Adults Board is to publish an annual report detailing what the Board has done during the year to achieve its main objectives and implement its strategic plan, what each member has done to implement the strategy, as well as detailing the findings of any safeguarding adult review and subsequent actions. The CSAB Annual Report 2021/22 is in line with this requirement. 

The Annual Report identified an upward trajectory of both the number of adults referred as a concern and the conversion rate from concern to enquiry during 2021/22 after a significant decline during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020/21.  End of year data showed that 93% of safeguarding enquiries had the risk reduced or removed in 2021/22, which evidenced that most people were being kept safe as a result of their engagement with services.  Financial, neglect, acts of omission and physical abuse remained the top abuse times for concluded safeguarding enquiries in Coventry in 2021/22.  The increase in enquiries relating to self neglect was a trend that continued throughout the year. There was no change in the number of concluded safeguarding enquiries relating to domestic abuse, in contrast to local and national reports of domestic abuse increasing in other areas of the system.  It was noted that work was being carried out as part of the Domestic Abuse Strategy to raise awareness and help practitioners be better equipped to support adults experiencing domestic abuse.

The Scrutiny Board were advised of the importance of obtaining information on the experience of the person in receipt of Safeguarding Adults Services, including through the Safeguarding Awareness Week, family and service users involved in Safeguarding Adult Reviews, the voice of service users in audits, ‘real time experience’ surveys launched by the Council and by the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire through mandated fields within referrals for staff to capture patient and family views.  Feedback was also obtained from partners, staff and leaders.

The Quality Assurance Framework highlighted that the CSAB Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Framework helps the Board to ensure that adults who have care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Briefing Note

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) received a briefing note and presentation by the Director of Adult Services and Housing, which provided information on the range of approaches and mechanisms in place to keep people safe for both assurance and contribution on potential improvements.

The Scrutiny Board noted that keeping people safe is a fundamental element of the work of Adult Social Care and that this is one of the key commitments in the Adult Social Care offer.  Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the most vulnerable people, helping people to stay safe from harm and abuse, working alongside other organisations when needed, and supporting people to make their own choices was paramount.  Although this is central to everything the Adult Social Care does, it was recognised that this is a challenging area and that the service is often involved in people’s lives at a time of change, crisis, profound trauma and abuse.

The presentation provided an overview of the ways in which Adult Social Care helps to keep people safe, summarise and identify key issues and provide real examples of the application in practice.

The Scrutiny Board noted that there were 3 specified routes to keeping people safe.  It was further noted that these all have specific criteria so don’t apply to all adults within the community, but in some very limited situations consideration of all 3 of the following areas may apply:

·  Care Act 2014 – provides general duties but predominantly safeguarding.  The Act provides a clear legal framework for how local authorities should protect adults with care and support needs at risk of abuse or neglect.

·  Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) – for people who lack capacity to make decisions.  This is also an area of safeguarding activity where the Council is experiencing increasing demand.  The Council is the supervising authority, assessing and authorising the deprivation in care homes, hospitals etc.

·  Mental Health Act 1983 – for those experiencing acute mental illness requiring detention in hospital. The Act has very specific criteria that is medically led and assessed and authorised by an Approved Mental Health Practitioner, more commonly a social worker.

The presentation provided case studies in respect of safeguarding, mental capacity and DoLS, and how all 3 of the above elements were used.  This provided real life examples of some of the cases Adult Social Care undertake and how the various acts support the service to keep people safe.

Key issues were highlighted in respect of the perception of others, particularly where it is not possible to share the rationale in decision making; increased activity within Adult Social Care, the impact of increased demand on the workforce; and recognising that it isn’t always possible to remove all risks and ensure the complete safety of individuals, who may chose to remain in an unsafe or risky situation.

Members of the Scrutiny Board asked questions and received responses in relation to the following matters:

·  In respect of impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) noted the work programme and agreed the inclusion of A & E waiting lists.  It was further noted that an additional meeting had been scheduled for 15^th February 2023 to consider GP access.

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved

There were no other items of public business.