Agenda item

Further to the request by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board consideration was given to a report which detailed the current and projected position with regard to residential and nursing care home provision in Rotherham across all client groups.

The report set out the current and projected population levels and the projected population of older people and people who have a learning disability, physical disability or mental ill-health who were aged 18 to 64 years.

The report also set out the position of the care home market and described the present and future challenges as well as presenting opportunities. 

Members sought to understand how predictions could be made up to the year 2035, specifically referencing the decrease in 135 psychiatric patients when the population was projected to increase. It was explained the projections were provided by the Office for National Statistics and were verified by the Institute of Public Intelligence and Oxford Brookes University. It was confirmed that the system was used by all local authorities in England.

It was explained that service users in Rotherham were historically receiving more of a service than they may have potentially needed. When compared to other authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region, Rotherham was on average for older people’s care, but was above the regional average for nursing care. Reference was made to the learning disability and mental health challenges in Rotherham.

Members expressed concern at the time afforded to individual visits and queried whether it was feasible to spend more time with people in their own homes to prevent admission into residential care. In response, it was explained that the focus should be on needs, outcomes and wishes and a graduated approach should be adopted. The ultimate goal was for people not to come into social at all, but reablement was key and there continued to be a need to think about the removal of long-term care solutions. People should only go into residential care if their needs become unsafe, but there was a risk tool that was used to assist decision making with individuals.

Reference was made to the Integrated Better Care Fund (IBCF) and the forecast overspends in Adult Social Care and Members sought assurances as to how this would be managed. It was noted that the IBCF could be used for a whole range of activities, but it was a short term funding stream. As part of the broader picture, Members were advised of the specific challenges in Rotherham in delivering adult social care. Behavioural change in respect of the use of residential care and reablement was key, with the number of people under 65 in residential care being well above average. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health further elaborated on the national funding picture where all local authorities were suffering from reduced funding from central government. He reported that during w/c 20 November 2017, 57% of social care councils were already overspent.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and Strategic Director of Adult Care and Housing for their overview of residential and nursing care home provision in the borough and remarked that the Board would continue to monitor the work of the directorate in changing behaviours and processes.

Resolved:-  That the report be received and the contents noted.