Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J. Owen.

There were no declarations of prohibited party whips.

The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items to be considered at the next scheduled meeting to be held on Monday, 6^th March, 2017 be noted.

The Committee considered Carmarthenshire’s Ageing Well Plan Annual Report. It was explained that as a signatory of the Dublin Declaration for Age Friendly Cities and Communities, the Council committed in 2014, to the production of an Ageing Well Plan and an Annual Report was required by the Older Peoples Commission. The overall aim was to make the most of the capacity of communities to support the independent living of older people.

The Policy, Consultation & Engagement Officer explained that the Annual Report demonstrated the Council’s performance against the five main priorities: Age Friendly Communities, Dementia Supportive Communities, Falls Prevention, Opportunities for Employment and New Skills and Loneliness and Isolation. It was noted that it was important that the Council changed the way services were planned and provided to ensure that, as the number of older people in Carmarthenshire continued to increase, people could live in good health and be involved with their families and communities as much as possible. It was explained that a broader range of measures were being considered that required lower level interventions to ensure sustainability.

It was highlighted that there had been a lot of work undertaken in developing dementia supportive communities and a good example was Llanelli market becoming the first dementia friendly market in Wales. There had also been significant work in falls prevention and an example of this was the SAVE Scheme across the Public Service Board partners, which was a make every contact count initiative. The Scheme provided training to partners to identify where preventative services could be required when they were in contact with residents. It was highlighted that isolation and loneliness was a silent killer and activities that were of benefit to residents and the communities had been introduced. For example, encouraging active lifestyles, volunteering and theatre concessions.

Members expressed concerns regarding the lack of regular public transport, in rural areas and the cost of using other methods of transport to visit hospitals and other facilities, especially if people had been referred there. The Head of Integrated Services queried if issues regarding access to primary care had been raised with the Community Health Council. It was proposed and agreed by the Committee that the Community Health Council be invited to a future meeting to discuss such issues.

It was highlighted that transport schemes, such as Country Cars, were not available in all areas of the County. The Committee noted that Country Cars should be advertised further to recruit more volunteer drivers and encourage people to use the scheme for it to expand. The Head of Integrated Services explained that it would have to be ensured that there was capacity to meet an increase in demand before advertising the scheme further. It was suggested that once the service was in a position to increase advertising then the Information, Advice and Assistance Service would be the ideal platform for such advertising. The Information, Advice & Assistance Manager highlighted that as a result of consultation with older people the Service was trying to create communities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee considered a progress report on Improving Dementia Support Services in Carmarthenshire. Members were advised on the national recommendations published by the Older People’s Commissioner regarding the improvements needed in dementia services, the regional steering group that had been set up to deliver these improvements and the progress and actions taken at a local level to respond to these recommendations.

The report referred to a recent national publication by the Older People’s Commissioner of Wales entitled ‘More Than Just Memory Loss’, which captured what was important to people living with dementia and their carers from across Wales. The report outlined that people required consistent support, which included emotional as well as physical support. The Committee was informed of the development of Carmarthenshire’s Dementia Action Board and a broad outline of the work that had been undertaken locally. This included the development of Dementia Friendly Communities that supported the national movement aimed at improving society’s response to people who have dementia. It was highlighted that the first officially dementia community created in Carmarthenshire was in Pontyberem and Llanelli market had become the first Dementia friendly market in Wales.

It was noted that work was being undertaken with the primary care sector to deliver holistic dementia services. Officers highlighted that the Amman Gwendraeth GP Cluster continued to fund the community memory service which had been recognised nationally as good practice. It was noted that in Llanelli GPs, supported by the Community Team, were diagnosing dementia in the surgeries, which prevented the need for patients to be referred to hospital and resulted in a more timely diagnosis. Work on Commissioning had also been progressed to explore the opportunities to develop a bespoke care and support model for those living with dementia and cognitive impairment. This model would provide a more flexible approach than the traditional domiciliary care model and would better meet the needs of the individual as well as saving money and resources.

Members highlighted that some of the work being undertaken in dementia services had been excellent. In particular, the health and well- being facility Ty Golau was mentioned and it was commented that it was positive to see GPs supporting such beneficial initiatives.

The Committee noted that there were low diagnosis rates of dementia across the Hywel Dda Health Board area. It was queried if this was due to less people in the area having dementia or that the Health Board did not perform as well as other areas in diagnosing it. Officers explained that the figures were from the Alzheimer Society and based on population information, however, it was not an exact science. The Alzheimer Society’s findings and the Health Board’s own analysis indicated that perhaps there was underperformance in formal diagnoses. It was explained that it was not just low rates but also the length of time for a diagnosis to be made that required addressing.

Members queried if the work being undertaken to improve dementia support would be extended across the County. The Head of Integrated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee received an update report on the Council’s current and future provision for Information, Advice & Assistance (IAA) Services in relation to statutory duties under the Social Services & Wellbeing Act (Wales) 2014.

Members were advised of the current position statement in relation to progress of development of Carmarthenshire’s IAA service. Specifically the provision of a single point of access to Social Services for Adults and Children and Housing Services. Officers highlighted that there were numerous access points for Social Services and it had been considered how best to pull them all together into a single access point. It was highlighted that this would assist with the early intervention agenda.

It was noted that Carmarthenshire had a long standing Careline service that dealt with a lot of vulnerable people, 24 hours per day and seven days per week. Consultation had taken place with staff across Social Services and Housing on how to develop the Careline service into the IAA Service. It had been important to ensure sustainability and that the Welsh Language Standards were met. It was highlighted that 85% of employees in the Service were now Welsh speaking (at least level 3). A more structured training scheme had been developed for the Team that allowed them to qualify up to NVQ Level 4 in Information and Advice. There was also one to one training and peer support to allow staff to upskill quickly and there were multidisciplinary practitioners in the room with the team to provide advice. There was now career progression for team members, which had been well received. It was highlighted that Service had been relocated to new premises in Eastgate in Llanelli, which had made a significant difference to its development.

The Service had commenced the proof of concept stage to ensure that it could meet people’s needs and it was building on the learning from this stage to provide a robust front door for all Social Services enquiries for Carmarthenshire. It was noted that the IAA Service would be part of the new 111 contact number trial being undertaken by Hywel Dda Health Board. The Executive Board Member for Social Care & Health highlighted to the Committee the amount of work that had been undertaken to develop this service.

Members who had previously used the Careline Service commented that it had always been a good service and it was positive that it was being developed further. The Committee highlighted that it was sometimes beneficial to undertake a mystery shopper exercise to ensure that the information being provided to service users was correct and that there were clear pathways to accessing the information required. Officers took these comments on board and noted that at this stage they were ensuring the Service was robust before it was marketed. Members pointed out that the operational target date was March 2017 and queried if the Service was on track to meet this target. Officers explained that the Service was already broadly compliant with the requirements of the Act and they would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Committee considered the update report detailing progress in relation to actions, requests and referrals emerging from previous meetings.

The Executive Board Member for Social Care & Health provided the Committee with a further update on certain actions requested by Members previously.

The Committee was reminded that a visit to the T?Dyffryn Extra Care Scheme had been arranged for 7^th February 2017 and further details of the arrangements would be circulated to the Committee.

RESOLVED that the report be received.

The Committee noted the reasons for the non-submission of five reports, which would be presented to future meetings. It was noted that there would be an update on the ARCH project in the Council meeting scheduled for that afternoon. The Head of Integrated Services informed the Committee that more detailed information would be provided in due course.

RESOLVED that the explanation for the non-submission be noted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on17th November, 2016 be signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12th December, 2016 be signed as a correct record.