Agenda item

·         Potential for a safeguarding failure in Adult Social Care – Wendy Lowder (Executive Director Adults and Communities)

·         Meeting our statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014 – Wendy Lowder (Executive Director Adults and Communities)

The Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud and Assurance submitted a report reminding Members that at the meeting in March 2021 it had been agreed that the Committee have a regular opportunity for a ‘deep dive’ of some of the strategic risks with the appropriate Executive Director in attendance to update and assure the Committee on the management of their risks.

Members were further reminded that the Strategic Risk Register contained 16 risks of which 6 had been classified as high (red rating), 9 risks had been classified as medium (amber) and 1 had been classified as low (green).

The Senior Management Team had reviewed the previous ‘risks’ and had made a number of changes reflecting the change in circumstances.  Three new risks/areas of strategic focus had been added as outlined in the Appendix to the report, namely, Organisational Resilience, Threat of Fraud and Zero Carbon, Climate and wider environmental commitments.

All strategic risks had a number of actions identified to minimise/mitigate the risks and all actions had review/completion dates, status updates, progress RAG ratings and identified owners.

The Executive Director Adults and Communities attended the meeting virtually to provide the Committee with a review of her two strategic risks namely:

·         Potential for a safeguarding failure in Adult Social Care

·         Meeting out statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014.

The Executive Director gave details of the background to these risks and to why they were included within the Strategic Risk Register.  She gave a brief resume of the risk factors that underpinned the Strategic Risks and detailed the actions taken to track and manage risks making particular reference to the documents, plans and arrangements in place to support the service in managing those risks.

The actions associated with the two risks were included in Appendix 1 to the report and Appendix 2 provided a high-level summary of all other strategic risks which included the high-level risk description, risks impact status and response ratings.

In relation to the first risk the Executive Director outlined the factors underpinning this risk and then made reference to the various action points:

·         The assurance regarding the suite of policies and procedures in place and which were regularly reviewed – reference was also made to the schedule of review that was in place

·         The suite of metrics, indicators and data that existed to be able to monitor risks

·         Staff workloads which were adequately monitored to ensure consistency and adherence to good practice

·         Changes that had occurred in working arrangements due to Covid 19 which were fully assessed to ensure the continuity of service and that they remained effective

·         The multi- agency arrangements that were in place, the steps taken to ensure that they were robust, adequately governed and effective and that the Safeguarding Board arrangements that gave oversight and which ensured that the arrangements were fit for purpose and regularly reviewed

·         Staffing levels within the Council and Care Homes that were closely monitored and the options for monitoring Care Home absences that were being looked at within daily situation report meetings.  If there was a breach of agreed levels within the contingency plan, mitigation measures would be recommended for consideration by managers and the appropriate governance forum

·         Case studies within Social Care Teams were monitored on a daily basis.  These would be broken down into safeguarding/non-safeguarding related casework.  If teams were struggling with stacked cases, contingency measures would be recommended for consideration by managers at appropriate governance forum

·         The number of delayed discharges, the situation at the hospital and the number of unsecured packages of homecare were reported at the daily situation report meetings and at other forums

In response to specific questioning, the following matters were raised:

·         An assurance was given that partnership arrangements were solid and were monitored on a regular basis.  It was noted that strong and effective leadership was in place and had been strengthened particularly over the last few months.  It had been reported that Barnsley had one of the strongest health and care partnership arrangements within the North East Yorkshire Region

·         Whilst risks could not be eliminated in their entirety the Executive Director was confident that all steps necessary had been taken to minimise risk.  Strong leadership was in place and an open culture was encouraged so that anyone who had concerns could raise them and have them addressed

The Executive Director Adults and Communities then made reference to the risk in relation to meeting responsibilities under the Care Act 2014.  She outlined the factors underpinning this risk and then made reference to the various action points:

:

·         The way in which the service ensured issues, concerns and approaches were escalated, shared, and supported

·         The collaboration arrangements with NHS providers in Barnsley alongside VSCE partners in order to use resources flexibly to meet need

·         Influencing and lobbying to ensure appropriate lobbying regionally with the Chief Executive and Leaders Forum and with the North East Yorkshire NHS England/Improvement

·         The managing of expectations and ensuring open dialogue and communication with individuals who received services, providers of services and carers

·         The way in which data regarding future needs and demands was factored into the Medium Term Financial Strategy

·         The assurances regarding the current and predicted status of Adult Social Care provision in the Borough

·         The engagement with the market to explore options and build appropriate plans to address capacity and quality issues and concerns

In response to specific questioning, the following matters were raised:

·         The Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud and Assurance explained that the response rating reflected the degree of urgency and importance of the interventions and management rather than the inherent risk.  He then gave details of when the risk ratings would change and the factors influencing this

·         In relation to staffing in general and in relation to both risks, particular mention was made to the work of the Service Director Adult Social Care and Health and her Team as well as all Partners and other organisations who all contributed to the reduction and minimisation of risk

RESOLVED:

(i)            that the Risk Register and Strategic Concerns update be noted; and

(ii)           that Wendy Lowder, Executive Director Adults and Communities be thanked to attending the meeting and for answering Members questions.