Agenda and minutes

EAP Active Communities - Friday 4th October, 2024 10.00 am

Venue: Council Chamber, The Cube, George St, Corby NN17 1QG

Contact: David Pope 

Items
No. Item

71.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from the co-Chair, Cllr Helen Howell as well as Cllrs Ken Harrington and King Lawal.

72.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

 

 No declarations of interest were received.

73.

Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd August 2024 pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that:-

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 2nd August 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

74.

Care Quality Commission Assurance Preparation pdf icon PDF 902 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The panel received a presentation from the Assistant Director for Commissioning and Performance, Matthew Jenkins that sought to provide an overview of preparatory work undertaken ahead of forthcoming assessment by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

 

It was heard that the Health and Care Act 2022 provided a fundamental change for local authorities providing care, placing Integrated Care Systems on a statutory footing and providing powers to the CQC to seek assurance that such authorities were delivering their statutory adult social care functions as outlined in the act.

 

To that end, the CQC had been inspecting local authorities since April 2023 with all authorities set to receive their initial assessment by September 2025. The inspection visit would see CQC engaging with service users, officers and elected members to explore how functions were delivered across the following four themes:

 

·       Working with people

·       Providing support

·       Ensuring safety

·       Leadership and workforce

 

Following inspection, a report would be produced by the CQC and a service rating provided and published on its website. To date, five local authorities had received pilot inspections with one requiring improvement and four rated good, a further five authorities had received assurance following full rollout of the inspection programme.

 

Regarding the Council’s own preparation for assurance, a self-assessment had been drafted in 2023 and subsequently reviewed and updated with the involvement of the Council’s senior management team, care providers and service users. The initial assessment had highlighted areas of good practice and areas requiring improvement, while the refreshed version detailed improvements made and areas of good practice the Council wished to highlight. The panel noted that preparation undertaken was not solely focussed on CQC assurance but was part of a consistent drive to provide the best possible service for users.

 

The meeting heard from the Principal Social Worker for Adults, Sarah Morris who provided additional detail regarding the four CQC assessment themes detailed above, with a focus on strengths, areas for focus and responses to assist in improving these areas.

 

The Panel heard acknowledgement that there remained significant work to be undertaken prior to assurance, with annual review completion for those receiving services not being as high as desired and ongoing challenges faced in regard to capacity, demand and workloads. Details of a number of other preparatory priorities ahead of assessment were outlined to the meeting.

 

Details of The Annual Conversation were provided, in effect a mock CQC assessment undertaken by Dr Carol Tozer, a former Director of Adult Social Services, it was heard that the outcome from this independent assessment indicated that the Council’s internal assessment was accurate and reflective of its current position with an understanding of areas required for improvement. It was considered that this feedback was both positive and reassuring ahead of the CQC assessment.

 

The Panel heard that it was likely that elected members would be spoken to as part of CQC inspection, with approximately three months’ notice of intention to inspect provided by the CQC. It was anticipated that the election period in May 2025  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

75.

Commissioning and Performance - North Northamptonshire Care Market Quality pdf icon PDF 478 KB

Minutes:

The panel received a further presentation from the Assistant Director for Commissioning and Performance that sought to provide an overview of the North Northamptonshire Care Quality Market.

 

It was heard that the update provided a focus on independent care providers using Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings as a proxy for quality that had resulted in an observation of positive changes to ratings. A reflection on the national position with the CQC, its inspection priorities and approach to transformation was also provided.

 

It was reported that in March 2020, CQC had paused its inspections as a result of the Covid pandemic, a regime that featured set frequencies for provider inspections based on rating levels. A new strategy had subsequently been adopted, moving towards a more data and intelligence led regime, moving away from frequency rules for inspections, with inspections prioritised based on risk. This had resulted a downturn in the rating profile within the sector as there was no longer a priority for CQC to go back and reflect improvements made. A recently published national review commenting on CQC’s implementation of its new strategy was critical of that approach and CQC was currently reflecting upon that approach to inspections.

 

The Panel noted the current position of the local provider market, the Council’s approach to quality assurance and supporting improvement in both the in-house and external care market. It was reported that there were 278 CQC registered locations providing regulated care activities (residential, nursing or community) in North Northamptonshire. It was further noted that day care services were not registered with the CQC.

 

The meeting heard that the Provider Quality Assurance Team visited contracted providers to complete quality assurance visits, with people receiving care providing their observations and experiences of service provision as well as looking at processes, procedures and ways of working. The team worked in partnership with local care providers who were mostly smaller or independent providers, with confidence that such working was the reason for the improved ratings profile. It was heard that a new quality framework had been implemented towards the end 2022, that had subsequently been reviewed with providers and positive feedback received.

 

The Council currently had a number of internal services that were supported in an intensive manner by the Quality Team, with each service allocated a Quality Officer that visited the service on a monthly basis as detailed below:

 

·       Thackley Green (Building-based Reablement) – GOOD (inherited rating)

·       Reablement North (Community-based Reablement) – GOOD

·       Specialist Support Services for Younger Adults / Da Vinci Court(Community Support) – GOOD

·       Pine Lodge (WAA Respite & Transitions) – Requires Improvement

 

It was reported that the Council held one large block PPP contract with Shaw, an independent provider that offered 250 residential care beds across six services with all of these rated as “Good” by the CQC. The Council worked closely with this provider to support the quality of service.

 

The Independent Care Market locally had 352 providers the Council contracted with, each Quality Officer holding a portfolio of providers enabling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

76.

Executive Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 136 KB

Minutes:

The Executive Forward Plan for October 2024 to January 2025was noted.

77.

Forward List of Items for the EAP pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Minutes:

The forward list of items for the EAP was considered and noted.

78.

Close of Meeting

Minutes:

There being no further business, the Chair thanked Members and Officers for their attendance and closed the meeting.