To note the contents of the report.

The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children, Strategy and Commissioning introduced the item and explained the governance and management of adult services as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report. Members were informed that the Optalis Shareholding Board makes decisions on Reserved Matters and is comprised of six directors, three from the Royal Borough and three from Wokingham Borough Council. Members were informed that the Joint Commissioning Board was responsible for reviewing contracts and commissioning work at Optalis, the Operational Commissioning Group was responsible for managing performance, and the Executive Board took responsibility for governance of the company’s activities. The Adult Services and Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel at the Royal Borough retained the ability to scrutinise the contract between Optalis and the Council, and to scrutinise the performance.

The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children, Strategy and Commissioning informed Members that the update report measured progress from March to the end of August. Members were informed that there had been a notable improvement in performance regarding delayed transfer of patients from hospital care, and in relation to applications for Deprivation of Liberty Standards. However it had been acknowledged that there were areas that required improvement, including timeliness of reviews for people and their carers receiving ongoing services, and reviewing of Independence Plans provided by the Council’s care provider, Carewatch. Members were informed that these two areas were not meeting their targets. The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children, Strategy and Commissioning informed Members that in order to meet satisfactory standards with regards to safeguarding, Optalis were in the process of recruiting additional staff and the company was confident targets would be met by March 2018 as a result. Members were informed that Finance was performing well and there had been an overall underspend in adult social care, due mainly to a number of one-off windfall payments.

The Vice Chairman asked for clarification on the performance indicator relating to the percentage of Deprivation of Liberty Standards applications not dealt with within 12 months. The Head of Commissioning – Adults and Children, Strategy and Commissioning explained that performance was currently much better than targeted. The process for carrying out a Deprivation of Liberty Standards assessment, and which customers they relate to, was explained to Members.

The Vice Chairman asked if there were any issues pre-transfer which were affecting the most recent figures. The Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care said there was a stretched target in terms of reviews and carers’ reviews. Members were informed that in order to meet the new stretched target permission had been given to recruit four new members of staff. Three of the vacancies had been filled but the Council was still seeking to recruit a fourth member of staff who would take responsibility for working with adults with autism.

The Vice Chairman asked for more information on Independence Plans, as this was an area where targets were not being met. The Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care stated that Independence Plans were completed by the home care provider and sent to the Social Work team so the needs of the resident could be met. The Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care stated that the Independence Plans had not always been reviewed and kept up to date; however over the last two months reviews had been taking place more regularly. Members were informed the reviews would be sent in the Social Work team for sign-off from the domiciliary workers. It was explained that the review process would highlight whether the service provided value for money.

Cllr Hollingsworth asked if there were more people with autism living in the Royal Borough compared to other Local Authority areas. The Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care stated that a report compiled around a year and a half ago confirmed there was a higher than average incidence of autism in the Royal Borough. Cllr Hollingsworth asked if there was any evidence to suggest levels of autism was related to people marrying their cousins. The Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care said she was not aware of this as being an issue but would look into it and report back at a future meeting.

Responding to a question from the Chairman, the Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care gave further clarification on the Deprivation of Liberty Standards assessment process and how it applied to people with mental health issues, particularly dementia. Responding to a question from Cllr Diment, the Deputy Director of Health and Adult Social Care stated that some cases relating to Deprivation of Liberty Standards would be referred to the Court of Protection and it would be for the Council to justify that the patient was receiving the correct care. However the majority of people would remain in the safe environment that had been allocated to them as part of the assessment.