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Agenda item

Cabinet Member Update

To receive an update on current and forthcoming issues within the portfolio of the Cabinet Member for Family Services and Public Health.

Minutes:

4.1      Councillor Heather Acton (Cabinet Member for Family Services and Public Health), provided a briefing on key issues within her portfolio. The Committee also heard from Bernie Flaherty (Executive Director, Adult Social Care and Health), Sarah Newman (Interim Executive Director of Children’s Services), Senel Arkut (Head of Health Partnerships and Development), Houda Al-Sharifi (Interim Director of Public Health), Nicky Crouch (Interim Director of Family Services), Michelle Hill (Special Programmes Director) and Dominic Stanton (Acting Director of Adult Social Care).

 

4.2      The Committee received the update and held detailed discussions on the following topics:

 

·         Meals on Wheels – It was confirmed that following the end of the Sodexo provided Meals on Wheels service a significant amount of work had been undertaken to ensure service users' needs had been reviewed with new care plans or alternative arrangements put in place. All service users affected had been contacted after the end of the previous service to ensure that their needs were being met. The Committee discussed the costs to the users of the new arrangements. The Committee were pleased that there had been no complaints since the service ended. It was confirmed that there would be a review three-months post cessation of services.

 

·         Adapted Housing – The Committee was interested to learn of the interaction between services with regard to ensuring older people and those with physical disabilities were provided with suitable adapted housing. It was noted that there was a high level of interaction between all the relevant services including Housing and Adult Social Care. Efforts were being made however to develop an even more cohesive relationship between all parties to further enhance the offer to service users.

 

·         Residential Care Homes – Garside House Nursing Home (a service provided by Sanctuary Care Ltd) was currently the subject of a Police investigation and the home had been inspected subsequently by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Once the findings were publicly available these would be shared with the Committee. Beachcroft House was linked to the current SHSOP project contract and it was likely there may be an impact on its planned opening of Summer 2020.

 

·         Oral Health – The Committee was pleased to note a campaign was underway, using Change4Life branding, which was aiming to communicate to residents that children under the age of 18 could get free dental treatment. It was commented that community notice boards located throughout the borough could be utilised to further disseminate the message. In addition, it was suggested that work be undertaken with the Community Champions to ensure a consistent message was communicated to residents. It was also noted that dental care was free during pregnancy and for 12 months after a baby was born.

 

4.3      Sexual Health – On 1 April 2019 the Committee had received a report detailing the sexual health services provided within Westminster. The Committee had been particularly interested to learn about a trial underway using a medication called PrEP which helped prevent people from developing HIV. It was confirmed that the Council was continuing to support the trial and an update on its progress would be provided to the Committee.

Supporting documents: