Agenda and minutes

No pecuniary interests were declared.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 November 2014 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting of the sub-committee held on 18 November 2014 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee will meet with a local Dial a Ride user to discuss the experiences and concerns that local users have when using the Dial a Ride service in Havering.

The Sub-Committee met with a local Dial a Ride user to find out the concerns and issues faced on a daily basis by residents who used the Dial a Ride service.  The user had provided details of statistics on the service over the last 3 year. Members noted that the new computerised scheduling system (Trapeze) was implemented in 2008 and since that time the service had not been as efficient.

Prior to the computerised system Dial a Ride could complete approximately 30 trips a day in Havering, however now they could only complete 16 trips a day.  The users stated that this was due to the system not taking account of group bookings i.e. two members travelling together from the same location or in the same street at the same time.  Frequently Dial a Ride would send a separate vehicle for each individual.  Other issues included only one way travel with no return trips and difficulty in obtaining trips at weekends and evenings.

The Sub-Committee was informed that a neighbouring borough seemed to secure more than 20,000 more trips in a year and they were able to have regular bookings. i.e. the same time and day each week and return journeys.  There were a number of improvements, suggested by the user, which could be made to the current system to deliver more trips and to make it cost-effective.

The Sub-Committee thanked the user for attending the meeting and agreed that they would continue to progress the issues highlighted with TfL.

The Committee will meet with the Chief Executive of Tapestry, previously Age Concern Havering, to find out how the launch of the new branding was received.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from the CEO of Tapestry (formerly Age Concern Havering).  Tapestry would be doing things differently and changing the way they did things for more people.  The organisation would now be providing services to all adults, and not just the elderly population.   The Sub-Committee was given the background to how the service had changed from its inception in 1949 right up to present day. It was estimated that approximately 300,000 older people had been helped by the organisation since 1949.

The Tapestry Mission “To enable adults to lead a healthy, positive and fulfilling life” would take account of the changes to service provision so that it would be available for all adults.  There were three priorities; Prevention, Care and Support and three values which underpinned the activities of Tapestry.  The values were Enterprising, Empathetic and Expert. The Sub-Committee noted that the service would now be about identifying solutions for clients, to be understanding and professional and to be the best in terms of knowledge and learning.

It was noted that Tapestry had just become the Borough’s Health Champions under “My Health Matters”.

Members asked about the qualifications and training undertaken by carers employed by Tapestry.  The Sub-Committee was informed that this was a high quality service and process and procedures were in place.  Carers could be tracked using a smart phone so that monitoring of where carers were and how long they spend with someone.

Members asked how the funding from Havering was allocated.  It was explained that the funding was in relation to services provided in the form of day centres at both Painesbrook and HOPWA House.  It was noted that there were 3% from donations, 67% from the payment of services and the other 30% by way of funding from both the London Borough of Havering and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The Sub-Committee asked how the services were published so that the public were aware what was available.  It was noted that the majority was by word-of-mouth.  However in the next few months there would be a bigger marketing drive which would make use of more technology.  The organisation would have to grow 25% in the next year, they had a very experienced board and the members were very confident that they could deal with the changing marketplace.

The Sub-Committee thanked the officer for an informative presentation.

Following a request from a member of the Committee, officers will present the Havering Autism Plan and explain how it is implemented in Havering.

The Sub-Committee received a brief presentation on Adult Autism.  Brief details were given of how Autism Spectrum Condition could affect individuals.  This included not knowing the world around them, not understanding body language, and having difficulty with social interactions.  The officer explained that different support and reasonable adjustments needed to be made for each individual.

The Autism Act 2009 was aimed at adults (18+) with Asperger’s or Autism whose level of need did not meet either the Learning Disabilities or Mental Health criteria.  Local Authorities and the Department of Health ran a National Self-Assessment process however this was run retrospectively (approximately two years behind).  The Sub-Committee noted that the National Adult Autism Strategy would be refreshed and it was the expectation that local authorities would take a lead on transforming health & social care, community and universal service as well as promoting support for Adults with Autism through organisational change and local leadership.

The officer highlighted a number of local initiatives that had been completed and those that were in the pipeline.  These included:

·         Accurate data on the number of Adults diagnosed in the community as with an Autism Spectrum Condition.

·         Develop reasonable adjustments to allow individuals to equally access universal, community and commercial services

·         Develop information on diagnosis pathway and numbers of adults waiting for a diagnosis.

·         Develop autism specific information and advice portal.

·         Collect and Coordinate data from key partners (i.e. GP’s Criminal Justice System).

·         Develop Autism specific forum to promote Partnership working and awareness.

·         Refresh Autism Strategy.

The Sub-Committee noted that the projected Adult Needs and Information Service had estimated the number of Adults with Autism in Havering was 1433.  This was predicted to rise by 12% by 2030 to 1597.  It was further noted that there was a growing number of young people with Autism Spectrum Condition, Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behavious entering the system via the transition process.

The Chairman stated that an item at the OSC Board had been discussed on “bed blocking” this was where care packages were not put in place in time for the discharge from hospital.  It was agreed that this would be an item on future agenda.