Agenda item

Cabinet considered the Adult Services strategy for the provision of Worcestershire County Council Care and Support Services. The Cabinet Member for Adult Services introduced the report. The development of the strategy was described as an exciting opportunity to create a reablement service by using the Business Rates pilot scheme money to help those on the edge of needing further intervention. £750,000 would be used to provide community reablement to people with the aim of enabling them to avoid having to be admitted to acute hospital services or care homes.

It was important to ensure that the Council was meeting the core purpose of Adult Social Care as described by the Care Act 2014; to help people to achieve the outcomes which matter to them in life and to shape the local care market based on the needs of the local population. Services needed to be sustainable, provide choice and meet local need. Adult services had been challenged over the last few years and it was right that services went through the commissioning cycle. Other Local Authority areas would be consulted to see how they provided services, as well as building on the ground-breaking work that has been done with Newcastle University on managing the aging process. The market had been found to be weak in this area, so the service would probably be provided in-house.

The vision for an in-house service would be to maximise the health and Well-being of people, that adults were healthier, live longer and have a better quality life and to ensure the right care is available at the right time and that best practice is shared among Councils.

To do this the services needed to meet the key principles of being value for money, provide better quality (meeting CQC quality levels at least), and to develop the market. However, the Council Service would not be a threat to the market but would collaborate with it to improve quality of services. Worcestershire Care and Support would provide services which would be safe, caring and personalised and enable individuals to have control over their own care. Respite and recovery care would be provided in a range of settings. Howbury needed updating and therefore investment would be needed to bring it up to the required standard.

In response to a query from outside the Cabinet regarding why the market was weak in this area the Cabinet Member for Adult Services explained that he suspected that the market for these services was weak across the country and not just within the local area as businesses concentrated on self-funders; a lot of care homes were run by individuals meaning that the service was lost when owners retired or wished to give up the business.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

(a)    approved in principle the creation of a community re-ablement service and delegated the final decision upon it to the Director of Adult Services in consultation with the said Cabinet Member;

(b)    approved the strategy for the direct provision of services by the Council to adults who are eligible under the Care Act 2014; and

(c)    noted that capital expenditure will be required in future years relating to Howbury House, and a further report will be submitted to Cabinet subject to the development of a viable business case.