Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September, 2020

b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2020 were agreed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Adult Services

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Adult Services which sought approval to consult on two proposals, one concerning the establishment of a Dementia Hub at the Maymorn building and the second on the closure of the Community Zone service at Frank Walsh House Annex and the re-provision of that service at the Wilfred Spencer Centre. 

The report indicated that the Council directly provided or commissioned a range of day opportunities for adults. These served a vital function in at least two separate but related ways:

·  They provided meaningful activities including learning, stimulation and recreation helping in promoting the independence of service users

·  They provided valuable daytime respite for informal carers.

In order to protect vulnerable people during the first wave of Covid-19, day services were closed in March 2020 and were partially reopened from August 2020 which remained the position in August 2021. In response to the closure and subsequent partial reopening of centre-based day opportunities, the City Council had continued to fund packages of care for its eligible residents where required as an alternative to day centre attendance and had worked with providers to adapt day centre-based approaches, to more agile targeted activities that optimised safe interaction but minimised the risk of Covid-19 infection. The report provided detailed information on the numbers of adults and older people receiving a centre based day opportunity arranged through Adult Social Care prior to Covid and currently.

The Council had already begun a reduction in reliance on building-based services and provision of more opportunities for people to make use of community options before the onset of the Covid -19 pandemic, for example, through the delivery of its Jenner 8 centreless service for adults with learning disabilities. The closure and only partial reopening of building based services had given added impetus for the development of outreach models to people in their own homes including utilising care technology solutions to engage people in meaningful activities. Nevertheless, for some individuals, building based services would continue to be the most effective way of meeting specific needs and a blended approach was now required. Management of infection prevention and control was likely to be required for the foreseeable future and provided further opportunity to consider alternative ways to meet need where possible. 

This report was seeking permission to consult on the following two proposals:

Proposal 1 - Dementia Hub

Creation of a Dementia Hub based at the Maymorn building in Everden Road, Holbrooks. This proposal, which resulted from an informal engagement exercise with stakeholders from across the City, would maintain an element of “in person” whole day attendance for part of the week. In addition, through a network of partner agencies including health services and Community and Voluntary sector organisations working in collaboration, the Hub would enable a rich variety of benefits for service users and their families simplifying dementia support access for people with dementia, their families and professionals including GPs.

It was proposed that there would be a wide range of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Director of Adult Services

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Adult Services concerning the Mental Health Market Development Plan, a copy of which was set out at an appendix to the report. The report sought approval for publication of the Plan.

The report indicated that  demand for mental health residential care and supported accommodation, and complexity of those coming through the system, had increased significantly in recent years due to local and national factors, and was projected to grow further as population numbers increased and the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to be felt. In recent years there had been a move towards more person-centred, enablement-based care and support in Adult Social Care. Over the next five years the Council planned to:

·  Raise the quality of the existing mental health nursing, residential and supported accommodation to ensure evidence-based recovery-focused models were delivered in high-quality settings. Existing providers would be offered extensive support to meet required standards but ultimately decommissioned if standards were not met.

·  Stimulate the market to develop additional capacity to meet the needs of existing service users, Coventry people placed out of city, and increased numbers of service users projected for the next five years. This would include a larger proportion of supported accommodation to promote reablement, recovery and a move back to independence, including specialist supported living for those with more complex needs or risks.

·  Developing and expanding the existing community-based support model to support more people in their own homes and to enable people to move on to independent living with appropriate step-down community support more quickly and sustainably. This aspect was not included in this plan as the intention was to investigate Council internal options prior to considering independent sector options.

The report detailed that Councils had a duty to shape social care provider markets to ensure that a range of good quality provision was in place to meet the social care needs of individuals including adults with mental health conditions. This was achieved through good commissioning practice which ensured that providers were aware of the type and volume of support that was likely to be required both now and in the foreseeable future. 

Reference was made to Market Position Statements (MPS) which were a tool for providing this communication and the production of a Market Position Statement (MPS) for Adult Social Care was a requirement as part of the Care Act (2014). The Cabinet Member for Adult Services approved the Market Position Statement in October 2018. The report detailed what was included in this Market Position Statement.

Following the publication of Coventry’s MPS the intention had been to produce a series of Market Development Plans (MDP) to provide the market with additional information about population needs, current developments and gaps in provision. The current plan was in relation to adults with mental health conditions.  The Mental Health MDP was intended to achieve several objectives including:

·  Reiteration and building upon information about need and demand from the MPS

·  Reminding providers of the approach  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance concerning the one outstanding issue item that was to be the subject of an update report at a future Cabinet Member meeting.

RESOLVED that it be noted that a report concerning “Adult Social Care Practice Framework Adults and their Carers at the Heart of Practice” will be submitted to a future meeting when appropriate.