NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

HEALTH AND ADULT SERVICES EXECUTIVE

 

Meeting of the Health and Adult Services Executive

 

13 August 2021 13:30 via MS Teams

 

DECISION RECORD & MEETING NOTES

 

Present:        Councillor Michael Harrison and Councillor Caroline Dickinson

           

Officers:        Richard Webb (RW); Abigail Barron (AB); Jonathan Prince (JP)

 

Minutes:        Dawn Day

                                               

NO.

ITEM

For Note/ Action

 

Declaration of Interests

County Councillor Michael Harrison declared an interest as a relative works in Health and Adult Services. 

 

 

1

Re-procurement of advocacy services

 

 

The report was noted.

 

Approval was requested to proceed with the re-procurement of the advocacy service due to the contract ending.   

 

There are currently three main independent advocacy services commissioned by NYCC; adults’ advocacy, NHS Complaints advocacy and children’s advocacy. The contract for the existing adults advocacy service is funded jointly between NYCC and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups covering North Yorkshire.

 

It is proposed that the procurement process is undertaken based on the same financial envelope as the current service, plus annual inflation uplifts. The current contract is £610k per year, majority funding by NYCC the remainder through the CCGs.

 

There are no significant changes anticipated to the types of services that are provided as part of this contract, as most of the functions are set out in legislation

 

Due to legislation change that will implement Liberty Protection Safeguards from 2022, it is anticipated that there will be a significant increase in IMCA referrals due to:

·         the inclusion of 16 and 17 year olds in eligibility

·         improved professional understanding of the requirement for advocates

·         the role of a ‘Rule 1.2 representative’ (a different type of advocacy not currently part of this contract) being dissolved and replaced by more complex IMCA referrals

 

If additional funding is required because of the LPS changes, a future discussion with Members may be required.

 

We are currently undertaking a consultation with the public and social care staff.  Any feedback will be incorporated into a future service model. 

 

Market testing has been carried out.  Only a small number of organisations have come forward but we are confident we will be able to secure a good service.

 

This has already been discussed at HAS Leadership Team who have reviewed the finances and different strands across the group.

 

AGREED:

Approval given to re-procure the advocacy service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

Adults Carers Service and Young Carer Support and Advice

 

 

The report was noted. 

It is recommended that the Authority carry out an open procurement procedure combining the Adult Carers and Young Carers support service into one contractual mechanism.

 

There are currently eight contractual arrangements supporting Young Carers and Adult Carers across North Yorkshire. The contract’s overall purpose is to offer carers valuable assistance, enabling carers to seek advice, support and access assessments that are of benefit to them whilst signposting carers to relevant support services throughout North Yorkshire.

Due to the volume of contractual mechanisms, contract management can be difficult and the need to ensure that young carers can transition to adult carers seamlessly is vitally important. It is being proposed to combine the Adult carers and Young Carers contract into one contractual mechanism to ensure a consistent approach across the councils carers support. This could be delivered in the form of a single provider/consortia operating in all areas of North Yorkshire or for different providers/consortia delivering on a locality footprint.

 

We would like much better links with the prevention service and wider carer pathway and online assessment tool for carers.   Better collaboration between providers and to enhance our role in relationship management. 

AB assured members of the importance of the service quality and efficiencies due to combining the contracts.  We would like to develop the service and make it more robust.  There will be a service development improvement plan and a contractual mechanism to improve the service year on year.  

RW emphasised links to the carers sitting service.

AGREED:

Approval given to re-procure the service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

Re-procurement of the home form hospital service

 

 

The report was noted.

 

Approval was requested to re-procure the Home from Hospital Service. 

 

Home from Hospital Schemes have been identified as enabling safe and timely discharge from hospital. North Yorkshire County Council are seeking to provide practical support to people who require such support, on their return home to facilitate timely and appropriate discharge.

 

The delivery model shall throughout the term of the contract, seek to incorporate the use of community assets to support a more effective service offer, building on the work and achievements through the pandemic response.

 

Comprehensive stakeholder, service user and market engagement has been undertaken with findings incorporated in to the new service model and amendments to the contract term and value.  Feedback from the consultation has raised that providers are unable to grow and be innovative and a longer contract term will be re-procured as a result of this feedback.

 

Feedback from acute trusts and agencies is to reduce maximum support from 6 weeks to 4 weeks.  We will continue to work with the discharge team and integration team to embed the service as a normal part of the pathway.  Provide more of a consistent offer and strengthen quality of discharges. 

 

A Service Development Improvement Plan will provide the ability to grow and develop the service.

 

AB confirmed the provider would be involved in the multi-disciplinary team, ensuring throughout the four-week period that the person regained independence and given support to participate in wider activities.  This is a preventative piece, providing strong links with living well and the stronger community team’s part of the wider community network.

 

AB confirmed this is not a statutory function, but adds value to the pathways.

 

AGREED:

Approval given to re-procure the home from hospital service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

Notes of previous meeting held on 14 May 2021

 

 

 

Agreed.