Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families acknowledged Ms Southall’s comments and assured her that he had confidence in the information being used and that there would be sufficient provision should Ludlow Road close. He thanked Ms Southall for her contribution as it helped keep everything in perspective. The report to be considered by Cabinet covered provision of overnight short breaks for Children but also proposals for young adults and adults and was a matter for all Councillors as the service was a Worcestershire wide provision.

There was now an improved working relationship between the Health and Care Trust and Social Care and that would help with achieving the aim of providing a stable, resilient and sustainable service which was not under constant review. The co-design events had come up with three themes; reduce the demand for overnight support by increasing flexibility and choice of support to families; provide a more cost-effective service by making provision available in the day and after school; and improve financial sustainability by sharing costs with Adults Social Care and using additional capacity for children from other areas.

The proposal was that the delivery model would give an extra 4 bedrooms at Osborne Court – two exclusively for Worcestershire and two which could be used by Worcestershire or other areas. There would also be refurbished adult beds and one additional adult bed. Thorn Lodge would be used for complex needs.

It was understood that the prospect of change was difficult for the families affected and managing those changes and any transition arrangements would be part of the consultation if changes were necessary. The proposal meant that future provision would be flexible, respond to future needs and would help with transition arrangements; this would not be possible at Ludlow Road which was not considered to be operationally viable or cost effective. It was confirmed that overnight respite would continue to be provided to any family who needed it.

During the ensuing discussion the following points were made:

·       The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills agreed with the direction of travel and felt it was important that vulnerable people received the right provision and that the service provided was fit for purpose,

·       The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care felt the changes were an opportunity to improve the transition arrangements and boost transition capacity. Young people would not always have to attend a different provision when they received adult services,

·       The Chairman of the Children and Families Scrutiny Panel reported that the Scrutiny Panel had considered the new delivery model and supported the changes while acknowledging the part Ofsted had played in the situation, as Ludlow Road had to be registered with Ofsted, as well as the CQC, and Ofsted do not allow shared rooms (unless the occupants were siblings of the same sex). This meant that Ludlow Road would not be financially viable. Osborne Court had outstanding facilities which had not been used to their full capacity, and also had nursing care available. She acknowledged the family-based support run by Barnardos and was delighted that registration at Providence Road would increase capacity by 2 beds. She said the difference in the numbers who now accessed one to one support services compared to a year ago was a stunning improvement and was a testament to the vastly improved information and co-ordination service, along with stronger partnership working between the Council and the Health and Care Trust. Going forward there would be an additional meeting of the Panel and the Short Breaks Task Group would be re-convened and would want to attend the Parents Consultative sessions. The Panel would also look at occupancy numbers in the various settings and levels of demand. The planned closure of Acorns in Walsall was a concern and would need to be considered as part of the consultation. She clarified that no final changes should take place until April 2020 when Osborne Court was ready. She was also happy that these proposals were not seeking to make staff redundant. Finally, she regretted that a party-political campaign appeared to have commenced in Wyre Forest about the issue which would bring additional stress to the families. She felt the situation was too important to be political and everyone should work together

·       The Chairman echoed the praise for the improved figures for children and families accessing services and also that the service was too important to be tainted by political shenanigans

·       The Leader of the Labour Group sought confirmation about a number of issues, firstly whether there would be the same number of respite beds available after the changes as there were currently; that the impact of transport in terms of time as well as cost be considered, including the impact on staff travel; that there was a concern about the loss of provision for the north of the County; the fact that families and young people would have become attached to individual staff members as well as how many nurses would be available at Osborne.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families responded to the comments: 

·       confirming that a briefing would be sought regarding the potential impact of the closure of Acornsin Walsall and then the details would be shared

·       that he would not get involved in party politics to do with this issue

·       he had been assured that bed numbers would not be reduced

·       transport issues would be a key part of the consultation

·       provision should not be considered as being for the north or south of the County because it was specialist care and provision was considered for the County as a whole

·       two briefings had been held with staff and officers from the Health and Care Trust who gave assurances that they were not seeking to make staff redundant

·       Engagement with the families would now start.

The Chairman noted the exceptional difficulties of making such changes, but he was assured that the proposal was the right thing to do for the sustainable future provision of the service. He thanked the Public Participant and appreciated the difficult situation she was facing.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet

(a)   noted the information relating to short breaks respite provision for children with disabilities and overnight replacement/respite care for adults with disabilities contained in this report, in particular the results of the co-design activity as outlined in paragraphs 28-39 of the report and appendix 1 attached to the report, and the progress in relation to the decisions made by Cabinet in July 2018 in relation to the need for further transformation in the way that the needs of families are met through short breaks provision of all types;

(b)   considered that they were minded to agree the proposed future delivery model for the delivery by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust of short breaks provision, and authorised the Director of Children, Families and Communities to finalise the consultation documentation and   carry out a consultation on the proposed changes to overnight short breaks provision to ensure future sufficiency, sustainability and quality of provision, as described in paragraphs 47 - 55 of the report;

(c)   authorised the Director of Children, Families and Communities, in consultation with the Director of Adult Services, to continue co-design activity with parents, carers and wider stakeholders on short break/respite provision, as part of the continuous review of provision, including the provision for young people approaching the age of 18 to ensure appropriate transition to adult services and/or independent living; and

(d)   agreed to receive a further report on the outcome of the consultation in paragraph (b) above in order to make a final decision on the future delivery model.