Proposed by Councillor Jeff Green

Seconded by Councillor Lesley Rennie

Council welcomes the freedom and choice given to Wirral residents by self directed care and personal budgets

Council notes:

(1)  The national target requiring, in compliance with NI130, Wirral to facilitate self directed assessments with 30% of service users.

(2)  The Labour led Wirral Council had, at the end of the activity year 2009 – 2010, achieved just 8% of such assessments.

(3)  That in response to this inadequate and unacceptable performance last year’s coalition administration extended the personalisation project to all service users and required an increase in those residents benefiting from self directed support for the remainder of the activity year 2010 – 2011 and every subsequent year.

(4)  The result reported that at the end of May 2011 Wirral had offered 41% of eligible residents self directed support, improving our performance from where Labour left us in the bottom 5 to comfortably in the top third of 153 authorities.

(5)  All Council contracts for domiciliary care, personal supported living and residential and nursing care have been updated to ensure the service will be provided in a personalised way and focussed on delivering outcomes such as improved health and well being and dignity in care.

Council further notes:

(1)  The replacement of the HART service with the STAR service (short term assessment and reablement) and the important role it plays in helping people to return home and live independently following illness and discharge from hospital.

(2)  The critical role the STAR service has in supporting people through an assessment and recovery process and facilitating the opportunity for a support planned and personal budget to be organised following their discharge from the service.

(3)  The previous coalition administration’s plans for the STAR service to be co-located with Wirral University Teaching Hospital and the DASS locality teams and to ensure the independent providers of the enablement part of the new service is thorough and of high quality, as requested by residents in the ‘Wirral Future’ consultation, is progressing well.

(4)  The changes made have provided further opportunity to develop integrated working with Wirral University Teaching Hospital, particularly around the work of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, community nurses and the planning for effective discharge.

(5)  The most recent reports show that the number of delayed discharges from hospital has been reduced to zero and the Department, together with Wirral University Teaching Hospital and Wirral NHS have been asked to present to a regional conference as a case study of excellence in partnership working.

Council expresses its thanks and appreciation to:

The new Director, all of the staff and leaders within DASS and across the Council, who have worked so hard to achieve this strategic and transformational change in the breadth and quality of service provided to Wirral residents.

The new independent providers, NHS Wirral and the Wirral University Teaching Hospital for their support and partnership working to create a truly integrated care pathway.

Former Councillor Bob Moon for resisting the opposition calls to stop this change and sustaining it while receiving the unwarranted personal abuse thrown at him as he worked as the Executive Member for DASS with his department and partners to ensure the former coalition administration’s vision for a transformed public service was delivered.

Council requests:

The new processes, including the resource allocation model (RAS), continue to be monitored closely, with any further opportunities for improvements identified and reported.

Subject to agreement with the Director of Law, HR & Asset Management, the content of this resolution and the Council’s thanks be communicated to all DASS, Finance, Strategic Change and internal Comms staff involved in achieving this transformation.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2):

Proposed by Councillor Anne McArdle

Seconded by Councillor Pat Glasman

Delete everything after “Council notes” and replace with:

(1)  The national target NI130 required all councils to ensure that by April 2011 at least 30% of all eligible carers/service users had a personal budget. This was achieved.

(2)  By the end of May 2011 Wirral had offered 41% of eligible residents self directed support through personal budgets. This achievement was down to hard work by DASS staff and a credit to their professionalism under challenging circumstances. This statistic puts Wirral 41st out of 153 authorities which is excellent news.

(3)  While the extension of personal choice to individuals in this way is clearly a success story, Council is aware that real choice will ultimately be dependant on the ability of personal budgets to actually purchase the care needed, and that charging policies need to be monitored with this in mind.

(4)  Council further notes that all new Council contracts for domiciliary care, residential and nursing care have now been accepted by providers.  In regards to Supported Living, meetings between tenants, carers and their selected new providers have now concluded and the new arrangements commenced on July 1st. Again this was achieved through an excellent partnership approach between DASS staff, carers and providers.

(5)  While Council welcomes the fact that the STAR service, which replaced the HART re-ablement service, now provides a full re-ablement service, it regrets the break up and part privatisation of an extremely successful and cost effective service which saw 70% of its clients either needing fewer services or no services at all after the six week intensive re-ablement programme, thereby saving the Council considerable sums of money.

(6)  Council also regrets the fact that the transition was managed in such a way that for a twelve week period clients who should have received a full re-ablement service did not receive that service but received a standard domiciliary care service instead. On past figures, that would mean that over 300 people did not have the intensive specialist care to get them back to independent living, which would have allowed their level of ongoing care requirements to drop or stop altogether, thereby saving the Council considerable sums of money, which will now be an ongoing cost to the Council instead.

(7)  Council welcomes the co-location of the STAR service with Wirral University Teaching Hospital and the DASS locality teams and the moves to ensure the quality of the enablement on offer, as campaigned for by Wirral residents and other stakeholders, including the Older Person’s Parliament and Wirral Local Involvement Network (LINK).

(8)  Council asks that the new processes, including the resource allocation model (RAS) continue to be monitored closely, with any further opportunities for improvements identified and reported.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2):

Proposed by Councillor Jeff Green

Seconded by Councillor Lesley Rennie

After “Council expresses its thanks and appreciation to:” insert the following new paragraph:

All service users and their carers who supported this agenda with endurance and enthusiasm throughout the pilot stage.

Alter the final paragraph to:

Subject to agreement with the Director of Law, HR & Asset Management, the content of this resolution and the Council’s thanks be communicated to all DASS, Finance, Strategic Change, internal Comms staff, service users and carers in achieving this transformation.

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 7(8) the Council did not debate this matter.

The amendment proposed by Councillor McArdle was put and lost (28:36) (One abstention).

The amendment proposed by Councillor Green was put and carried (36:28) (One abstention).

The motion, as amended, was put and carried (36:28) (One abstention).

Resolved (36:28) (One abstention) -

Council welcomes the freedom and choice given to Wirral residents by self directed care and personal budgets

Council notes:

(1)  The national target requiring, in compliance with NI130, Wirral to facilitate self directed assessments with 30% of service users.

(2)  The Labour led Wirral Council had, at the end of the activity year 2009 – 2010, achieved just 8% of such assessments.

(3)  That in response to this inadequate and unacceptable performance last year’s coalition administration extended the personalisation project to all service users and required an increase in those residents benefiting from self directed support for the remainder of the activity year 2010 – 2011 and every subsequent year.

(4)  The result reported that at the end of May 2011 Wirral had offered 41% of eligible residents self directed support, improving our performance from where Labour left us in the bottom 5 to comfortably in the top third of 153 authorities.

(5)  All Council contracts for domiciliary care, personal supported living and residential and nursing care have been updated to ensure the service will be provided in a personalised way and focussed on delivering outcomes such as improved health and well being and dignity in care.

Council further notes:

(1)  The replacement of the HART service with the STAR service (short term assessment and reablement) and the important role it plays in helping people to return home and live independently following illness and discharge from hospital.

(2)  The critical role the STAR service has in supporting people through an assessment and recovery process and facilitating the opportunity for a support planned and personal budget to be organised following their discharge from the service.

(3)  The previous coalition administration’s plans for the STAR service to be co-located with Wirral University Teaching Hospital and the DASS locality teams and to ensure the independent providers of the enablement part of the new service is thorough and of high quality, as requested by residents in the ‘Wirral Future’ consultation, is progressing well.

(4)  The changes made have provided further opportunity to develop integrated working with Wirral University Teaching Hospital, particularly around the work of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, community nurses and the planning for effective discharge.

(5)  The most recent reports show that the number of delayed discharges from hospital has been reduced to zero and the Department, together with Wirral University Teaching Hospital and Wirral NHS have been asked to present to a regional conference as a case study of excellence in partnership working.

Council expresses its thanks and appreciation to:

All service users and their carers who supported this agenda with endurance and enthusiasm throughout the pilot stage.

The new Director, all of the staff and leaders within DASS and across the Council, who have worked so hard to achieve this strategic and transformational change in the breadth and quality of service provided to Wirral residents.

The new independent providers, NHS Wirral and the Wirral University Teaching Hospital for their support and partnership working to create a truly integrated care pathway.

Former Councillor Bob Moon for resisting the opposition calls to stop this change and sustaining it while receiving the unwarranted personal abuse thrown at him as he worked as the Executive Member for DASS with his department and partners to ensure the former coalition administration’s vision for a transformed public service was delivered.

Council requests:

The new processes, including the resource allocation model (RAS), continue to be monitored closely, with any further opportunities for improvements identified and reported.

Subject to agreement with the Director of Law, HR & Asset Management, the content of this resolution and the Council’s thanks be communicated to all DASS, Finance, Strategic Change and internal Comms staff, service users and carers in achieving this transformation.