Issue - meetings

Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager, submitted the findings and recommendations of the Scrutiny Review of the 2 residential homes in Rotherham operated by the Council.  The review had also included visits to 2 independent homes for benchmarking purposes

The overall aim of the review was to achieve an understanding of value for money, outcomes and quality of Service provision and, in particular, the potential impact of budgets cuts on this.  As well as making recommendations to be considered alongside the process of setting and reviewing the 2013/14 budget, it aimed to support the achievement of the Council priorities i.e. ensuring care and protection were available for those people who needed it most and helping to create safe and healthy communities.

The review had been split into 2 distinct pieces of work:-

-          To understand the workings of the residential homes set in the context of Adult Social Care delivery, funding and regulations. 

-          To receive a summary of the work completed by PWC and the main recommendations regarding the future of the Homes

The Key messages from the Review were as follows:-

·           The 2 Council Homes would always struggle to remain competitive in terms of costs with the independent sector because of the terms and conditions of the staff employed by the Council

·           The majority of the costs of the Homes were related to staffing

·           For a number of reasons including vacancy rates and annual leave, staff would regularly find themselves working longer hours than contracted for and also created significant staff shortages

·           The high quality of care provided in the Homes was largely attributable to the staff who were proud to work for the Council and extremely committed to driving up quality standards for the residents

·           The 2 Home Managers demonstrated an inclusive management style and strong leadership

·           The entertainment and activities programme provided for residents were of a high quality

·           Costs associated with the maintenance contract and how staff would prefer to be involved in the process

The Chairman thanked Deborah on behalf of the Review Group for her work on the Review and the staff of the 2 Homes for their openness and honesty.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the findings and recommendations set out in the report be endorsed.

(2)  That the report be forwarded to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and Cabinet.

(3)  That the Cabinet response to the Scrutiny Review recommendations be fed back to this Select Commission.