Agenda item

This paper summarises the content, key themes, ambition and approach of the draft Adult Social Care Strategy, and invites the Committee to offer their input into its development.

Report to follow.

Members considered a paper summarising the Council’s draft Adult Social Care Strategy for 2024/25.

The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration and the Director of Adults Safeguarding provided an overview, noting that:

·        The strategy was in a formative stage and the Adult Social Care team was looking to engage with service users, their carers and families, frontline staff, and internal and external partners in its development. Adult Social Care was one of the Council’s most significant functions and it was important to get the strategy right.

·        The draft document built on work that was already underway across the Council and was being developed in partnership with the National Development Team for Improvement to draw on best practice from across the sector.

·        It sought to recognise the unique strengths of individuals and communities and to help people lead better, more independent lives and reduce inequalities, by helping people to stay at home and providing affordable, safe and high-quality services.

·        The strategy was built around commitments to eight key themes, each with a set of statements outlining what was being worked towards; action plans around the delivery of the strategy were likely to follow. These commitments were aligned to the expectations of the Care Quality Commission’s quality assurance framework.

In response to questions from the committee, it was confirmed that:

·        It was an ambition to work with primary care and community services to enhance and encourage early conversations around care needs, as many people would only seek this information in times of crisis. These conversations were part of a solution to enable people to access the support they needed without going through a lengthy assessment process.

·        Collecting data and intelligence was critical in understanding workload pressures and financial resources to improve care and support. Although capacity was lean and limited, improving the quality and consistency of data collection was a work in progress, including consideration of utilising automated reports and establishing priorities for data collection.

·        It was a legal requirement to offer Direct Payments, but people often needed support to access and use them. Work was underway to improve the process, and officers were looking to engage with people who had experience with, or who might benefit from, Direct Payments; proposals around this would be brought forward.

·        Care workers were undervalued, and while there was a national shortage of funding, it was important to support people to build careers in care, and to work with partners to raise parity of esteem for the care workforce. Improving training and opportunities for career development were priorities of the workforce element of the strategy.

·        The Council had a statutory duty to consider best value. The ambition of the strategy was likely to outstrip available resources and priorities would need to be considered.

·        Support for unpaid carers was a high priority; their work was invaluable in a context where care had become more expensive and more difficult, and they deserved greater support. There were national challenges around respite care and short breaks, but options around how respite care was commissioned could be considered.

·        Work with partners was needed to highlight the challenges faced by people with disabilities, sensory impairments, or mental ill health in navigating processes for national benefits such as Attendance Allowance. It was hoped that a pilot scheme to support people to fill out complex forms from home could be extended across the city.

·        Members’ suggestions around enhancing the accessibility of the document for a general audience, including the possibility of including case studies to illustrate the process, would be considered.

·        Collaboration and co-production were central to the strategy, and it was an ambition to create more opportunities for engagement across the city, including around supporting young carers.

The Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care was in attendance and emphasised the importance of celebrating and supporting paid and unpaid carers across York.

Resolved: That the Committee receive regular updates on the development of the strategy with the opportunity to input into its development.

Reason:     To keep the Committee updated on the development of the Adult Social Care Strategy.