Agenda item

Presentation by the Managing Director on SB Cares progress – Managing Director (presented on the day).

3.1       The Managing Director SB Cares, Mr Philip Barr provided some background to SB Cares by means of a presentation.  He explained that SBC Cares had been set up in April 2015 to ensure: continuation of publically owned services to the people of the Borders in the most efficient way; support for the implementation of Self Directed Support; the continuation of service capacity and quality; more effective use of staff resources; more efficient and flexible services to meet the needs of users; the generation of a surplus that contributed to overall social care resources; the continuation of a service of last resort provision.  Mr Barr advised that SB Cares currently supported 12,000 clients, families and carers through its range of services including: Home Care (821,000 visits during 2016/17); Day Services (150 clients); Care Homes (190 clients); the Community Alarm Service (3,200 monitored alarms); Extra Care Housing and provision of the Community Equipment Service.  He went on to explain the SB Cares company structure and the ways in which the organisation had developed its business, delivered financial contributions to the Council in 2015/16 and 2016/17 and enhanced the services it provided, eg increasing the Care Inspectorate grades.  Mr Barr listed the key values of the organisation and detailed statistics in relation to Social Care, how satisfied clients were with the service received and how the Scottish Borders compared with Scotland as a whole.  With regard to financial targets, Mr Barr advised Members that the stock valuation of £600K had contributed, on a one-off basis, to the financial contribution made to the Council during 2016/17.  He went on to explain that some efficiencies and reviews had not been achieved within the timescales and listed reasons for this.  These included Delayed Discharges and being the Provider of Last Resort, both of which were ongoing operational pressures; issues associated with staff resistance to new shift rotas; the development and launch of the new Borders Ability Equipment Store (BAES); and ongoing Day Centres Reviews.  Resources and expertise would be required to enable development and change going forward and Mr Barr went on to explain the key activities necessary to accomplish the priorities identified by SB Cares.

3.2       Discussion followed and a number of questions were raised by Members.  Mr Cathrow, Service Development Manager SB Cares advised that options were being considered for development of the Bordercare Alarm System and that a report would be presented to Council in due course.  In response to concerns about delayed discharge, Members were advised of the reasons for such delays and of how changes to the process might be helpful in alleviating the situation, eg decisions relating to discharge should consider the individual circumstances of service-users to ensure that appropriate care would be in place at home.  It was acknowledged that delayed discharge was a shared issue and Ms Hamilton indicated that as such, would be considered by the Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board in the coming year.  Members noted that routine reviews of care packages were carried out by SB Cares at least six monthly, however staff were encouraged to report any concerns immediately to ensure an effective early response.

            DECISION

            NOTED the presentation.