NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
16 NOVEMBER 2022
STATEMENT OF COUNTY COUNCILLOR MICHAEL HARRISON
Adult Social Care Reforms ‘Trailblazer’ pilot
The council is continuing to participate as a trailblazer authority for the potential early implementation of adult social care reforms. Recent activities have included:
· Completion of a ‘Fair Cost of Care’ exercise for domiciliary/home care along with a ‘Market Sustainability Plan’.
· Development of a new model for the operational delivery of the charging reforms.
· A review of the differences in findings/methodologies between Trailblazers and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
My intention is to proceed to implement the reforms early only if there is no material financial risk to the council.
Director of Public Health (DPH) annual report
The Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2021-2022 will be published shortly and considers the following:
· Health in North Yorkshire today
· Continuing the COVID-19 response
· Impact of COVID-19
· Lessons learned
· Recommendations
· Progress on past recommendations
The report – produced independently by our DPH - considers the lessons we, and others, have learnt over the last two years whilst focusing on the impacts of these lessons and how we will continue to improve and protect the health of our population.
Warm and Well
I would like to take the opportunity to promote the Warm and Well service, commissioned by NYCC on behalf of the Winter Health Strategic Partnership. Delivered by Citizens Advice North Yorkshire it provides advice and guidance for anyone who may struggle to pay their energy bills or heat their home.
Referrals can be made if someone is living in or at risk of a cold home, fuel poverty, struggling to afford their energy bills, or worried about winter. These can be made by professionals or by individuals themselves.
The recent energy price rises, the energy cap and general concerns linked to the cost of living have meant that since late 2021 the demand on the service has grown considerably. Our Public Health department have recently increased the funding to this service to support with the recruitment of additional advisors able to offer support and guidance. In addition to the standard support offer of Warm and Well, the Government announced an extension to the Household Support Fund that has been running for the past 12 months. Warm and Well are delivering fuel vouchers as part of this funding. The flexibility the fund offers us in helping households has been well received by advisers and clients alike.
Further information can be found at the website: https://www.warmandwell.org.uk/
Care market support
The care market continues to be under significant strain and the council has been active in providing support where possible. We have been making market support payments, operating a supplier relief and hardship process, made payments on planned activity and made payments in advance for the annual inflation settlement
Our ‘Actual Cost of Care’ exercise has seen new rates starting to be implemented for existing residential and nursing placements over three years. This is a significant increase in the care rates paid to providers in North Yorkshire, but is necessary to ensure continued provision for people with care needs in the county and to support providers. For those placements that were receiving the previous weekly county rates of £592 (nursing) and £599 (residential), they have seen an increase in the rate of up to 16% from April 2022.
There is ongoing work with Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Society of County Treasurers and the County Councils Network to lobby central government for a fairer funding settlement.
At the same time, the work to renew our Approved Provider List is progressing with providers being able to submit new sustainable rates, hopefully going some way to stabilising the care market in the county. As part of this renewal we hope to introduce new outcome-focussed service specifications for four service areas; Residential & Nursing Care, Home Based Support, Community Based Support & Supported Living. A cross-directorate implementation group is operating across key work-streams to ensure systems and processes are developed and in place to support both internal teams and providers to implement the new contract terms and service specifications
Discharge/hospital support
We continue to experience a record number of discharges across the county. We are continuing with our discharge to assess process and aim for 95% of people to return to their own home following discharge. There are virtual wards and urgent 2 hour response services operating across hospital trusts. Workforce continues to be a challenge and we have redesigned some of our in house services to meet discharge demand and create beds in the system. We have completed a capacity and demand exercise to support the development of a redesigned discharge model. Despite this, we have waiting lists operating for adult social care support – something that is not uncommon across the country, but was never experienced prior to COVID-19.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance
A draft CQC Assurance Framework has been published with a final version expected in December 2022. The emerging framework has been established to measure the progress of councils against the social care reforms proposed by the government over the last two years and will initially cover 4 key areas: working with people, providing support, ensuring safety and leadership. Inspections are scheduled to begin in April 23 and will benchmark councils across the country. We have started a self-assessment process, mapping data and evidence from colleagues, partners & people who use our services to identify both areas of best practice as well as areas for potential improvement against the CQC standards.
An important part of this new inspection regime will be the feedback CQC receive from people who use our services, their families and carers, the people who work in adult social care and the partner organisations we work with across the county.
Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Charter
Following an approach from Cllr Parsons I was pleased to adopt the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Charter, which sets out the care and support that people with MND, and their carers, deserve and should expect.
The MND Charter is made up 5 points:
1. The right to an early diagnosis and information
2. The right to access quality care and treatments
3. The right to be treated as individual and with dignity and respect
4. The right to maximise their quality of life
5. Carers of people with MND have the right to be valued, respected, listened to and well-supported
I intend promoting the Charter, making it available to all members, council staff, partner organisations and health and social care professionals who might deliver services to individuals with MND, to raise awareness of MND and work to ensure that everyone understands and respects the rights of people with MND and their carers so they are given the very best opportunity to access the care they need to live the highest quality of life possible, and achieve dignity in death.
COUNTY COUNCILLOR MICHAEL HARRISON