Agenda item

Presentation by Chief Social Work Officer.

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Elaine Torrance, Chief Social Work Officer, to the meeting, who was in attendance to give a presentation on the Scottish Borders Health and Social Care Partnership.  Mrs Torrance began the presentation by referring to the consultation on Locality Plans for Health and Social Care Services.  There were five Locality Plans, including one for Teviot and Liddesdale. The Locality Plans detailed key priorities with an action plan for each of the five areas.  The consultation on the Plans was ongoing until 14 September and she encouraged participation.

4.2       Mrs Torrance then discussed the progress made with the Health and Social Care Partnership since the last briefing to the Forum.  Membership of the Integration Joint Board had changed slightly and there were now four NHS representatives and five Scottish Borders Councillors on the Board, including the Council Leader.  The priorities identified for the Teviot and Liddesdale area were: to increase the range of care and support options to enable people to remain in their own homes; improve the availability and accessibility of services; increase the availability of locally based rehabilitation services; increase the range of housing options and develop robust preventative services and early intervention for long term conditions.  The Annual Performance report 2016/17 had been published in July 2017 and outlined the Partnership’s performance against the nine local strategic objectives. The report set out the Partnership’s achievements, priorities and the development of a joint workforce.    Mrs Torrance advised that there were challenges around home care provision with the need to attract younger people into the social care profession. There was also a need to ensure technology was utilised in order that different models of support could be provided.

4.3       Mrs Torrance then drew attention to three principle initiatives.  The first of which was the  Matching Unit which was operational in Hawick, Peebles, Galashiels and Kelso.  This Unit enabled the coordination of social care centrally.  On the first day of operation the Unit had enabled a reduction on the waiting list in Tweeddale from 12 to 3.  It was now planned to roll out the model and to include hospital discharges.   The second initiative was the ‘What Matters’ Hub.  There were three Hubs located in Hawick, Ettrick & Yarrow and Galashiels.  The Hubs’ aims were to improve access to services, reduce the need for formal care services, improve customer satisfaction and increase staff morale. The Hubs made health and social care more visible in local communities and had proved successful.   A full evaluation on the Hubs would be carried out in September with plans to roll out the Hubs Borders wide. There were also plans for a series of roadshows to advertise the Hubs.  The final initiative was the Transitional Care Facility, currently provided within Waverley Care Home in Galashiels.  This facility provided multi-disciplinary care for people leaving hospital who would have remained in hospital or been discharged too early with a risk of further hospital admission.  The facility had been successful with 80% of people able to return to their homes within a six week period.   Mrs Torrance concluded by advising that there were still challenges ahead but she hoped the presentation had given information on what was happening locally.  The presentation slides and summary of the Action Plan were circulated at the meeting and any questions could be referred to integration@scotboders.gov.uk

4.4       As part of the discussion and questions following the presentation, reference was made to the significant challenges of caring for people with dementia.  Mrs Torrance advised that the Partnership were looking at developing more specialist support through a team of care staff who could provide guidance and support and keep the person at home as long as possible.  The Partnership were also considering extra care housing for people with dementia.  This would enable people to stay in their own homes and have access to 24 hour support.  With reference to Crumhaugh House, Mrs Torrance advised that NHS Borders had asked the Council to inspect the premises to ascertain if there was scope for its utilisation.  The Chairman thanked Mrs Torrance for her informative presentation.   

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.