Agenda and minutes

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Lorna Greenwood and for leaving early from Councillor Nasim Ali.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

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 deputation requests.

There were no urgent items.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th September 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record.

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

This is the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Social Care. This report presents the strategic landscape for health and adult social care in Camden. It details a range of transformative initiatives across services and partnerships which are helping to ensure the Council meets its residents’ needs and delivers services in line with the Council’s strategic aims and vision for the borough.

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

The Committee welcomed the comprehensive and confident report, commending the wide range of initiatives being progressed.

In response to support for the work of Change, Grow, Live (CGL), the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Social Care acknowledged that it was a progressive service, embedding preventative, person-centred support. The Chair requested that visits to the service be offered to all committee members.

ACTION: Director of Health and Wellbeing

Following a suggestion that GP surgeries and pharmacists be enabled to learn from the best performing services, the Cabinet Member agreed that there should be fair ways to compare and learn from unwarranted variation in performance. A number of years previously, the Cabinet Member had undertaken a comprehensive statistical analysis of unwarranted variation between Camden GPs surgeries to encourage learning. The Clinical Commissioning Group at the time had started to use the same framework to take forward performance management. However, it was noted that performance management and commissioning of primary care was not the responsibility of the council. The council could only seek to bring pressure and encourage health colleagues to utilise comparative performance for learning opportunities. The Executive Director Adults and Health proposed that health colleagues be asked to bring a report on the approach to unwarranted variation by GP surgeries and pharmacies.

ACTION: Senior Policy and Projects Officer

The committee discussed the short-term nature of funding for projects. The Cabinet Member agreed that finding and accessing funding from varied pots was a frustrating and challenging issue although the council had been excellent in achieving this. It was hoped that the new government would ensure greater timeliness around funding decisions, enabling councils to plan more effectively. The Executive Director Adults and Health had lobbied government on behalf of the Council and ADASS (Directors of Adult Social Services) to streamline and stabilise grants and reporting requirements.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the report had followed the same format as the previous year to enable continuity. There had been an attempt to highlight where progress had been made but feedback would be taken on board to provide clearer signposting on which initiatives the committee had been informed about previously and which were new.

Workforce challenges were a nationwide issue. An explicit decision had been taken to address these challenges through a workforce strategy and this had already produced benefits.

The Executive Director Adults and Health explained that Adult Social Care Commissioning had been working with the Royal College of Art to fundamentally rethink how residents are supported in their own homes. While a longer-term relationship was sought, the Royal College of Art was not able to continue providing support pro bono. A budget had been developed to enable the Royal College of Art to check in with the work as it evolved. Insights from the work could be shared with the committee.

ACTION: Director of Adult Social Care Strategy and Commissioning

Officers advised that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Executive Director, Adults and Health.

The Camden Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board (SAPB) annual report is a statutory requirement under Section 43(5) and Schedule 2 of the Care Act 2014.

The 2023/24 annual report sets out the work undertaken over that year and the achievements of its partner agencies. The full report is attached at Appendix A.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director Adults and Health who informed the committee that Christabel Shawcross had stood down as Independent Chair at the end of September 2024, giving thanks for the work of the outgoing Chair. The new Independent Chair had previously scheduled leave and so could not attend the meeting.

The Chair noted that during consideration of the previous year’s report, it had been requested that training be provided to Members on the safeguarding framework for the protection of adults with care and support needs. The training had not taken place but was still desired by the committee. The Executive Director Adults and Health proposed that the new Independent Chair could lead a training session, including on what the Board does and its relationship with the committee.

ACTION: Executive Director Adults and Health

With regard to Priority 2, it was noted that domestic violence and abuse was included and it was queried whether the Board was working with those addressing male violence against women through work on the night time economy. The Executive Director Adults and Health confirmed that there were no specific partners from the evening or night time economy work on the Board but community safety was a statutory partner. The Board also had strong relationships with the Community Safety Partnership Board and the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Board.

Noting the challenge identified for Priority 4 from continued working from home for some statutory and voluntary services reducing face-to-face interactions, it was queried how the Board was addressing that. The Executive Director Adults and Health reassured Members that this was not the experience within the council but partners have expressed that it has become a challenge. Conversations have enabled awareness raising about the issue. It was noted that there had been struggles to hold meetings of the Board in person with it being easier to attend remotely. However, holding meetings in person enabled informal relationships to be built and the work to be progressed. Therefore the issue being flagged was less about increased safeguarding harm and more concerned with effective partnership working.

Members observed that the report identified strategic objectives but that there was a lack of outcomes identified for the work of the Board. It was queried how the Board evidenced the difference it made to service delivery. Members noted that there were organisations in Camden that had been assessed as not operating with best practice such as those NHS trusts that had received findings of ‘requires improvement’ by the CQC. It was also recognised that the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust was financially unviable and it was queried how problems like this that could affect the most vulnerable members of the community were addressed by the Board. The Executive Director Adults and Health acknowledged concerns about the lack of outcomes in the report. The outgoing Independent Chair had sought to support the Board in using data, evidence and insight and this would come through in the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Director of Health and Wellbeing.

This report sets out the Council’s responses to the Final Report of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee’s Screening and Prevention Panel, which was presented to the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee (HASC) on 9th July 2024.

The panel was established by the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee in June 2023, to review screening and prevention programmes in Camden.

This report provides a response to each of the recommendations from the Panel’s final report.

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

Members noted that there had been some progress on the recommendations of the Scrutiny Panel due to the work of Public Health. However, some of the responses were frustrating.

It was noted that the pharma company MSD had been effusive in wanting to demonstrate commitment to Camden during the scrutiny review and Public Health were encouraged to ensure that MSD carried through on the recommendations identified to raise GP awareness of the need to improve screening rates.

Scepticism was expressed about the work by Healthwatch on cancer screening within a particular Camden community as they had not fully written up or disseminated the findings. It was suggested that Healthwatch could be invited to attend a meeting to discuss their work on cancer screening.

Concern was expressed about the GP Federations’ responses to recommendations which were summarised as it was being done already, it was not their responsibility or it could not be done. It was stressed that something had to be done to improve uptake and level out health inequalities. The ideas being offered came from people within their own community and should be engaged with.

It was acknowledged that responsibility for addressing screening uptake was disparate and it had been challenging to identify who to direct recommendations to. It was suggested that further reports on progress should be scheduled regularly with the right people invited to address any questions.

The Director of Health and Wellbeing agreed that there was diffuse responsibility for screening and noted that responsibility had not been devolved to local areas as for immunisation. Learning could be taken from the work undertaken locally on increasing immunisation rates. Public Health has no powers to hold GPs to account on increasing screening uptake but the report could be used as a catalyst to influence and work with health colleagues over time.

Members highlighted that recommendations concerning disseminating messages in different formats did not just concern languages but use of different media such as video and the need to explain what screening was about.

With regards to progress in developing a Women’s Hub, the Director Health and Wellbeing explained that this was a Department of Health initiative that had been identified as necessary pre-pandemic due to evidence of women’s health inequalities. It was not a physical hub but a health hub offer. Public Health had some concerns about the proposals including the need for a more in-depth needs assessment across Camden.

The Director of Health and Wellbeing agreed to provide the committee with data on the number of women being diagnosed with cancer and waiting times for treatment.

ACTION: Director of Health and Wellbeing

Officers confirmed that Camden’s Community Champion Programme looks at health issues but the Champions decide what topics to focus on. It was agreed to explore how Members could meet with Community Champions to discuss what feedback they were receiving.

ACTION: Director of Health and Wellbeing

In response to a question about whether  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

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 Adults and Health.

The Chair noted that a number of additional reports had been requested during the meeting, as well as training on safeguarding.

Members requested that Healthwatch Camden provide a general overview of their work over the year, alongside the specific topics it has scheduled.

Following a recent deputation to Council on in-sourcing services and discussion about the engagement between trade unions and Shaw Healthcare, officers informed the committee that a briefing was being provided to the Cabinet Member and an update could be brought to committee.

The Chair noted that cross-service work was underway to address anti-social behaviour holistically and requested that a report be scheduled specifically addressing the health elements of the work.

Officers advised that the item on how Camden’s health and care system supports disabled residents would need to be rescheduled to January or February due to limited capacity in the team to work on the report.

The Executive Director Adults and Health proposed that a report on how mental health social workers would work in future through integrated neighbourhood teams could be brought to the February meeting. This would replace the report on transition from children’s to adults’ health services which would be moved to the following meeting.

A report on how the new duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace would be implemented in Camden’s social care and healthcare sectors, including any changes in practice, was requested.

RESOLVED –

(i)             THAT the work programme for 2024/25 and amendments summarised above be noted; and

(ii)            THAT the Committee’s Actions Tracker be noted.

There was no urgent business.