Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Adults and Safeguarding Committee, Councillor Sachin Rajput welcomed all attendants to the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of 8^th June 2015 be agreed as a correct record.

Apologies received from Councillor Pauline Coakley Webb who was substituted by Councillor Arjun Mittra.

Councillor Barry Rawlings declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Agenda Item 7 (Healthwatch Barnet Enter & View Summary Report 2014-15) by virtue of his work undertaken with CommUnity Barnet.

None.

None were received.

None.

The Chairman of the Adults and Safeguarding Committee welcomed the report and introduced the item which sets out the summary of the findings of the Enter and View visits as carried out by Healthwatch Barnet. It was noted that Healthwatch Barnet is the consumer champion voice for health and social care users and that it has a legal right to conduct Enter and View visits.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Michael Rich Head of Healthwatch Barnet and Julie Pal CEO of CommUnity Barnet joined the table. 

Councillor Arjun Mittra requested that the List of Enter and View visits as set out in the report (Agenda p16) be circulated to Members of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. (Action)

In response to a query from the Committee, Mr Rich explained that in comparison to national numbers, the Barnet Healthwatch Enter and View team have carried out a high number of visits in 2014/15.

Subsequent to a question from a Committee Member about follow-up actions, Mr Rich stated that as a result of the revisit reviews, a majority of recommendations had been implemented and carried out by service providers.

The Chairman commended the discussions and the work undertaken by Healthwatch Barnet and its Enter and View team as set out in the report and the appendix to the report.

RESOLVED that the Committee note and comment on information regarding Enter and View visits carried out by Healthwatch Barnet during 2014/15.

Votes were recorded as follows:

The Committee considered the Adults and Communities Annual Complaints Report and the appendix to the report. Furthermore, the Committee noted that publication of a Complaints Report for adult social care is a statutory requirement.

The Adults and Communities Director Mathew Kendall informed the Committee about the need to improve the speed of communication responses which will be addressed as part of the service process review.

Following a query from the Committee, the Community Wellbeing Assistant Director James Mass briefed the Committee on the monitoring arrangements in place to capture information about complaints and using this to implement lessons learnt.

The Committee noted the importance of capturing a number of examples from complaints made and incorporating those examples within the Annual Complaints Report. (Action)

The Chairman moved the following amendment to the Recommendations:

The Adults and Safeguarding Committee to note the information contained within the Adults and Communities Annual Complaint Report 2014-15 and approve the draft report for final publishing and to comment upon the same.

Votes were recorded as follows.

The motion was declared carried and became the substantive motion.

The Chairman moved to the vote. The Committee therefore unanimously

RESOLVED that:

The Adults and Safeguarding Committee to note the information contained within the Adults and Communities Annual Complaint Report 2014-15 and approve the draft report for final publishing and to comment upon the same.

The Chairman introduced the item which sets out the annual report of the work undertaken by the Committee and the progress made in 2014/15.

The Commissioning Director for Adults and Health Dawn Wakeling briefed the Committee about the progress made against the Corporate Plan objectives and the CPIs contained in the report.

Ms Wakeling informed the Committee about the BILT (Barnet Integrated Locality Team) initiative which was set up in August 2014 to increase joined up working to deliver health and social care services. Furthermore, Ms Wakeling noted that a review is taking place to take the lessons learnt forward to provide integrated care services more widely.

The Chairman moved a motion to amend Recommendation 2 of the report:

That the Committee notes the information contained within the Adult Social Care Local Account 2014-15 and approves the version of the report attached at Appendix A for publishing as final on the Council website.

Having been put to the vote, the motion was carried and became the substantive motion. Votes were recorded as follows:

The Chairman moved to the vote on the Recommendations as amended. The Committee therefore

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee note the progress made during 2014/15 and agree to use the information provided to help in future decision making.

2.    That the Committee notes the information contained within the Adult Social Care Local Account 2014-15 and approves the version of the report attached at Appendix A for publishing as final on the Council website.

Votes were recorded as follows:

The Chairman introduced the Forward Work Programme report which is a standing item on the agenda and lists the business items for upcoming meetings.

In consultation with Councillor Reuben Thompstone, Chairman of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee, the Chairman requested that a refresher training session be organised for Members of the Adults and Safeguarding Committee and the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee in September. (Action)

RESOLVED that Committee consider and comment on the items included in the 2014/15 work programme.

There were none.