Agenda and minutes

The meeting was opened by the Principal Committee Officer due to the Chair giving notice of lateness.

RESOLVED –

THAT Councillor Lorna Greenwood be appointed Chair until Councillor Larraine Revah arrived.

Councillor Revah arrived and took the Chair following introductory comments.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Anna Burrage and Nasim Ali. Councillor Tricia Leman substituted for Councillor Burrage.

Members will be asked to declare any Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Compulsory Registerable Non-Pecuniary Interests and Voluntary Registerable Non-Pecuniary Interests in respect of items on this agenda.

Councillor Lorna Greenwood declared for transparency that she worked for a not-for-profit creative health CIC in Suffolk.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Broadcasting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on the website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts were archived and could be made available upon request. Those who were seated in the Council Chamber or participating remotely were deemed to be consenting to having their contributions recorded and broadcast and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

There were no deputations.

There were no items of urgent business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th December 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th December 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care.

This report provides the Committee with an update relating to the portfolio of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care.

In response to questions about the Healthy Weight Acceleration Plan, Councillor Anna Wright, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care commented that it took a multi-stage approach to a complex issue and suggested that a longer paper to a future meeting could provide more depth and detail to the work. Kirsten Watters, Director of Health and Wellbeing, noted that there were different exercise pathways to address different health problems. A report could explain this and detail the roll out and equity considerations of pharmaceutical interventions.

ACTION: Director of Health and Wellbeing

It was explained that the BMI guidelines for pharmaceutical intervention in obesity where there were co-morbidities were changing. The guidelines depended on the co-morbidity.

There was support for a family care approach to care and support at home. It was also noted that the Minster for Care was Stephen Kinnock MP.

In response to questions about potential downsides of using pharmaceutical interventions to address obesity, the Cabinet Member recognised a potential tension between the use of pharmaceuticals and a risk that lifestyle change would no longer be sought. The opportunities from medical treatments should be embraced while embedded in a wider strategy. Previously it had been difficult to get political traction around the public health crisis linked to obesity. Having an effective pharmaceutical treatment for those already obese could be used to enable a joined up approach to the problem nationally and globally. Strategies were needed to combine pharmaceutical treatments and lifestyle change.

The committee was assured that where an individual with learning disabilities were assessed as not having the capacity to consent to preventative screening, the family and professional network would be engaged to ensure that any actions were taken in the person’s best interests. Health professionals would engage within settings or through use of the learning disabilities register. The team was very flexible. The Cabinet Member noted that people with learning disabilities was a known population group with everybody in contact with the council or registered with a GP. This had enabled a 97% success rate in annual health checks of people with learning disabilities.

The Cabinet Member explained that the ‘Secondary School eating infrastructure’ was a broader concept than kitchens. It included everything around the experience of eating school lunches such as queueing and places to sit. It aimed to address reasons why students may reject school lunches.

Officers explained that Fora Design was a small group of researchers from the Royal College of Art offering a new perspective and doing innovative work on home care. An example of a creative project being undertaken was carers and those cared for taking photographs of each other for an exhibition to enable interesting conversations grounded in lived experience.  

It was confirmed that procurement for a Carers’ Service contract was underway and an update would be brought to a future meeting.

The Health Facilitator for people with learning disabilities had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Executive Director, Adults and Health.

The purpose of this report is to present the Health and Adult Social Care (HASC) Scrutiny Committee with an introduction and status update on the Camden Neighbourhoods Programme. The Camden Neighbourhoods Programme is a strategic priority for Camden’s borough partnership and is jointly led by the London Borough of Camden and NHS partners. Camden’s emerging Neighbourhood model is enabling council and NHS services to test new approaches that provide a more seamless experience for people with care and support needs.

This report provides an overview of Camden’s partnership approach to neighbourhoods, set within the context of national policy agendas including the long-term reform of the NHS. The cover report introduces the policy context and the attached presentation details the activity happening in Camden.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director, Adults and Health.

Gillian Marston, Executive Director of Supporting Communities, confirmed that housing had been working with the Neighbourhoods Programme since the pilot. There were weekly multi-disciplinary meetings, looking at how to support tenants in a holistic way. Staff enjoyed the way of working, enabling the development of quicker solutions for particular needs. Dan Wainwright, Portfolio Lead, stated that a particular focus for 2025 was to develop links between the housing multi-disciplinary teams and health and adults social care multi-disciplinary teams, as well as to further connect with voluntary and community sector organisations within neighbourhoods.

It was confirmed that, while there had been an initial focus on establishing the Integrated Neighbourhood Team (INT) in the East Neighbourhood, there had been work going on in other neighbourhoods. For example, in the north of Camden, the work had begun within primary care. A GP was working with the Royal Free Hospital on moving heart health services into the community and using that as a basis for building an integrated team. Also, a Camden GP Federation was exploring funding a second coordinator, which could enable a roll-out in the west. Through a ‘test and learn’ approach, the INTs would look different in each place.

The committee was assured that anti-social behaviour and alcohol and drug misuse services were part of the mix. All adult social care functions were integrated into the INT structure although connections may be more or less important in each neighbourhood.  It was noted that Cabinet Members were sponsoring a joint approach to anti-social behaviour.

In response to questions about the devolved budget to the East Housing and Communities team at Holmes Road, the Executive Director Adults and Health suggested that this was to enable front line staff to creatively respond to small and fixable problems. The Executive Director of Supporting Communities explained that the small budget was from existing funds, enabling the team to collectively determine discretionary spend on simple, local projects with a big impact. The budget was a mix of General Fund and Housing Revenue Account funding. The Portfolio Lead highlighted that any spend would prevent further need arising. 

Officers explained that residents’ expectations regarding local services being part of the community they serve concerned the desire for real relationships between those delivering services and people in the community. In response to queries about how residents would know that the East INT was located at the Kentish Town Health Centre, Henry Langford, Head of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, stated that residents would not be aware and this was a deliberate move. There was no front door to the INT currently as it was still in a formative phase. GPs were aware of the location of the INT.

It was explained that Kentish Town Connects was another way for health and social care services to connect with others in the neighbourhood, such a sports clubs and voluntary sector organisations. It was very formative, with the Council as a connector  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Director of Health and Wellbeing.

This report provides an update on health protection and adult social care activities undertaken in preparation for the winter season. It highlights collaborative efforts to address health risks, vaccination uptake, hospital discharge, and care workforce capacity.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Health and Wellbeing.

Kirsten Watters, Director of Health and Wellbeing, reported that according to the most recent data Covid-19 infection figures were stable with decreasing hospital admissions. However, flu and Human Metapneumovirus levels had increased. Work was ongoing with health colleagues to promote vaccines across a variety of channels, including social media, focus groups, and staff training on conversations about vaccines. A research study was underway on training staff to hold in-depth discussion with the vaccine hesitant. Feedback from residents suggest that it would be preferred to have wider conversations on health so vaccine discussions were being linked to other topics such as screening and health checks. Taking a life course approach meant talking to parents to encourage childhood immunisations and longer term vaccine acceptability. To address health inequities, different approaches were being taken with different population groups. During the month, an in-depth approach was being taken with the Somali community. Public Health was also working with the One London Campaign to support regional messaging with different faith organisations.

In response to a question about the practical offer to address challenges from cost of living concerns, the Director of Health and Wellbeing highlighted the Winter wellness campaign with door knocking to provide brief interventions and health protection advise to vulnerable residents. Messaging was not just focused on cold weather alerts as excess mortality occurred at relatively warmer temperatures.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director, Adults and Health.

This report gives an overview of the Supporting People, Connecting Communities Accommodation Plan, including progress made in 2024 and a look ahead to work planned for 2025. A particular focus on the redesign of the Mental Health Supported Accommodation Pathway provides insight into the opportunities and challenges around delivering the ambitions of the Accommodation Plan.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director, Adults and Health.

In response to a question about those residents who were on the precipice of serious mental illness, it was suggested that a report on the wide offer for mental health to a future meeting.

ACTION: Senior Policy and Projects Officer

The Director of ASC Strategy and Commissioning explained that enabling people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible, might require access to formalised services for a period or connections to voluntary and community organisations, with an aim at bringing people back to independence. With regard to 3.4.1., every project within the Accommodation Plan were being designed with residents to ensure they respond to their needs. Transformation of major adaptations would be undertaken through improving relational practice, understanding who could be brought together to ensure adaptations were completed in a shorter timeframe and reviewing how the measures in the disabled facilities grant could be looked at differently in 2025/26.

It was confirmed that the Accommodation Plan was concerned with Camden’s social housing, residential care, supported accommodation and extra care, but residents within the private rented sector may be drawing on other care and support from the council in their homes. Adult Social Care was able to influence new developments through working on the Local Plan and commenting on planning applications.

In response to questions about housing support for over 65 year olds with mental health problems, officers confirmed that the council works closely with NCL including sharing some care homes. Work included ensuring that accommodation plans were speaking to each other and strategically thinking about increasing the number of places where needed, with clinical input. Innovative models such as Extra Care were also being explored.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Adults and Health.

This paper sets out the Committee’s work programme for 2024-25 and tracks actions from previous meetings.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director of Adults and Health.

RESOLVED –

(i)             THAT the work programme for 2024-25 (Appendix A) be noted and amendments proposed as summarised above; and

(ii)            THAT the Committee’s Action Tracker (Appendix B) be noted.

There was no urgent business.