Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Performance, Standards and Information Manager.

The Government had announced changes to the way that Council’s adult social care services were to be assessed in future; previously there was an Annual Performance Assessment by the Care Quality Commission and publication by Councils of their performance against a list of national targets.  These measures were to be replaced by:

      Local Accounts – a document published by councils on how they believed they had made progress on achieving goals for adult social care over the past year;

      Outcome Measures – these would be published nationally each year on how each council had performed against a number of different measures so that both councils and local people could compare progress on outcomes that are being achieved; these would also be published within the Local Account.

The Local Accounts would be published annually by the Council with the first one relating to 2011/12.  It was intended that they reflected the priorities of local people in a way that way meaningful to them and would be achieved by the involvement of local people, Members and key partners in the planning and production of Local Accounts.  Quality and outcome priorities would be set by the Local Authority and progress would be shown in the Local Accounts.  The content may include a statement from the proposed Health and Wellbeing Board, demonstration of how the council is working with other partners locally and a statement from the local Healthwatch; quality assurance would be through a system of peer review.

The proposals put forward by the Government on Outcome Measures were:

      Outcome Measures under four “Outcome Domains” which align with the Outcome Frameworks for the NHS and Public Health:

      - promoting personalisation and enhancing quality of life for people with care and support needs;

      - preventing deterioration, delaying dependency and supporting recovery

      - ensuring a positive experience of care and support

      - protecting from avoidable harm and caring in a safe environment.

      There would be no national targets for the outcome measures

      They would be published annually

      They were intended for councils to consider for benchmarking their results and to help local people judge progress.

A local steering group had been set up to oversee the planning and production of the Local Account which included representation from the PCT.  The process included consultation survey and events to take place over the summer with a “prototype” Local Account to be tested from the autumn, this would be presented to the Scrutiny Committee. 

In discussing the item, Members felt it was important that they were kept up to date with progress and had the opportunity to be involved in the Local Accounts.

RESOLVED:  That

(a) the proposals for Local Accounts and Outcome Measures be noted; and

(b) the Committee be kept up to date with progress on the production and content of the Local Accounts.