Agenda and draft minutes

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Items
No. Item

1.

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR FOR THE MEETING

Minutes:

It was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to appoint Councillor J. James as Chair for the meeting.

2.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T. Higgins, K. Lloyd & E. Morgan.

3.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST INCLUDING ANY PARTY WHIPS ISSUED IN RELATION TO ANY AGENDA ITEM.

Minutes:

Councillor

Minute No (s)

Nature of Interest

K. Broom

Item 5 – Area Planning Board’s Drug & Alcohol Misuse Annual Report 2018/19.

Item 6 – Substance Misuse Service Annual Report 2018/19.

Husband works for Natural Resources Wales.

 

There were no declarations of prohibited party whips.

 

4.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS (NONE RECEIVED)

Minutes:

The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.

5.

AREA PLANNING BOARD'S DRUG & ALCOHOL MISUSE ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19 pdf icon PDF 536 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed to the meeting, Ms Ros Jervis, Director of Public Health and Ms Joanna Dainton, Head of Commissioning and Partnership Strategy Development (Drug and Alcohol Misuse) of the Hywel Dda University Health Board.

 

The Committee considered the Area Planning Board’s annual report on Drug and Alcohol Misuse for 2018-19 which covered a range of areas, serving to inform members and provide and update on current commissioning arrangements and the provision of substance misuse services.  Information was included on:

 

·         The strategic objectives regarding the provision of such services, the funding arrangements and services/projects commissioned.

·         Local developments and confirmation of the governance and planning arrangements in place on a regional basis.

·         Performance indicators, service user feedback and case studies.

 

The following queries were raised on the report:-

 

·         Officers were asked their thoughts on Naloxone kits being made more publicly available and what support was available to service users following the use of Naloxone.

 

The Director of Public Health stated that she supported Naloxone kits being widely distributed and that Naloxone had saved lives since being made available.  Following use of Naloxone, the service provided a structured treatment and recovery path for individuals.  The Head of Commissioning and Partnership Strategy Development (Drug & Alcohol Misuse) added that although Naloxone was already distributed widely, distribution was still a key priority for the Area Planning Board. Distribution could only be managed through agreed local services.

 

·         Concern was raised in relation to the increase of addiction to prescribed drugs and over the counter drugs such as codeine.  The Director of Public Health acknowledged the complexity of drug abuse was a concern and that statistics showed that many were using secondary drugs.  Details of the top five drugs used was available on the WEDINOS website.  DDAS have a caseload of codeine dependent clients and packages of treatment were provided.  The Director of Public Health advised that outreach work within the pharmacies could be organised to facilitate discussions with individuals affected with drug dependency.

 

·         It was asked, if the service provided by drop in centres was audited?  The Director of Public Health advised that the Health Board had a robust assurance framework and if an agency was not providing value for money, or was under-performing against agreed SLA’s the Board would intervene and could decommission the service.

 

·         Reference was made to the emphasis on prevention. It was commended that as prevention was better than cure this was the way forward.

 

·         It was suggested that “strict presentations” should be provided to children in schools and that they should not have a “choice” regarding drug taking.  The Director of Public Health highlighted that children habits were mainly due to inter-generational cycles.  The cross organisational / multi agency work that was being undertaken promoted education and awareness within schools.  The Head of Commissioning and Partnership Strategy Development added that continuous discussions were held with Welsh Government highlighting the importance of maintaining multi-agency support especially within Police and Crime.

 

·         Reference was made to AUDIT C screening tool and ABI (alcohol brief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

SUBSTANCE MISUSE SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19 pdf icon PDF 230 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Substance Misuse Service Annual Report 2018-19 which provided an overview of all the activity undertaken by the Authority’s specialist drug and alcohol services throughout the year and outlined the objectives for the forthcoming year.

 

The report provided statistical information on a range of different referral categories and breakdown of data in relation to age, gender and substances used.

 

The following queries were raised on the report:-

 

·         It was stated that it was pleasing to see a focus on prevention and questioned if more money should be made available for advocacy. The Director of Public Health reported that whilst this area was challenging to address due to the co-occurring agenda, he agreed that advocacy was important and acknowledged that further work needed to be carried out.

 

·         Reference was made to ‘AUDIT C’ where it was asked if this was available on an app.  The Committee was advised that no apps were in development however, alternatives were ready available in the market. The Senior Manager Complex Needs added that a range of training was available for social care staff. 

 

·         A query was raised in relation to alcohol dependent patients in hospitals and where they were referred to.  The Committee were advised that the Alcohol Liaison Nurse was the conduit to service referrals and that there was Social Care involvement prior to discharge.  It was further reported that DDAS was not a direct route for discharge. 

 

In addition, it was reported that a Twilight Sanctuary Service initiative based in Llanelli consisting of Mind and Hafod staff worked in collaboration with the Health Board which was available between 6pm and 2am, Thursday to Sunday.

 

·         Reference was made to the referrals by source section of the report where clarification was sought on the ‘referrals by allocation’.  The Senior Manager  Complex Needs and Transition clarified that this included referrals from partner organisations (DDAS and CDAT).   It was stated that weekly meetings were held to discuss the cases.

 

·         It was asked how long service users tended to spend at Derwen Newydd, Tycroes accommodation.  The Senior Manager Complex Needs and Transition stated that it was difficult to average the length of stay but reported that it was temporary accommodation for a maximum of 2 years.

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be received. 

7.

TO SIGN AS A CORRECT RECORD THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 21ST MAY, 2018 pdf icon PDF 245 KB

Minutes:

UNANAMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the Joint Environment and Public Protection and Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 21st May, 2018 be signed as a correct record.

 

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