Issue - meetings

To consider the following items in relation to dementia:

• Building Based Services – report of the Strategic Director People;
• National Dementia Strategy, response of Cheshire East to the Strategy – presentation;
• Assistive Technology – report of the Strategic Director People;
• Carers Issues;
• Admiral Nurses

The Committee considered various items relating to dealing with dementia:

      The Council’s response to the National Dementia Strategy – Jill Greenwood, Service Manager (Dementia) briefed on dementia - dementia caused a progressive decline in many areas of function including skills needed to carry out daily activities.   As well as emotional impact, the financial cost was estimated at over £50 billion a year in the next 30 years.  In 2009 in Cheshire East the total number of people aged 65 and over was 68,000 and of these 4810 were predicted to have dementia (of which 3153 were female).  This figure was expected to grow by 88 % by 2030.  The predominant users of Adult Social Care were people with mental health needs and home care was the largest component of community services provided for the over 65s.  The Care Service Efficiency Delivery (CSED) programme was aimed at providing a fully integrated pathway.  An audit of current services and how needs were met had been undertaken and current work was looking at future demographic need, any gaps in service delivery and joint working possibilities.  Workshops on the programme had been held and well attended.  Gaps in service included – crisis response/home treatment – 24 hour service, intermediate care (step up and step down service), lack of awareness/stigma, enhanced support for carers and clients.  A draft strategy with options and resource implications would be produced for consultation prior to adoption and implementation of the final strategy. 

      Alongside the development of the new strategy other work was             underway including - to develop staff to undertake new and different      roles, provision of a new dementia unit at Lincoln House, Crewe (to       include a first stop shop including advice and information and a carers            café), introduction of a dementia website for Cheshire East    (Demenshare) to be launched on 5 July 2010. The Demenshare project      was a partnership involving the Council, Age Concern Cheshire,           Alzheimers Society, the Primary Care Trust and Opportunity Links and           was an online resource that would enable people affected by dementia      across Cheshire East to share and exchange their experience and       knowledge.

      Sandra Shorter, Manager of Provision of Adult Social Care, briefed on the role of Community Support Centres in Transforming Adult Social Care - she explained the distribution and usage of the current beds at the Centres including vacancy rates.  The in-house provider service had been renamed Care4CE (Careforce) and had three strategic priorities – reablement, complex needs and market cover.  The existing service was to be transformed to meet these priorities.  This would require having buildings that were fit for purpose, flexible well trained staff and viable cost effective services.  The current position was tired and out of date buildings, lean staff structures, under-occupancy at the Centres and high unit costs.  A short term solution was to reduce spare capacity and increase cost effectiveness by rationalising a number of centres – by integrating the services of both Santune House and Lincoln House at Lincoln House (and thereby  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39