Agenda item - Better Lives, Stronger Communities

Report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health and Adult Social Care (copy attached)

RESOLVED – The Board resolved that it agreed to:

(i)             To support the direction of travel of BLSC and this programme of work;

(ii)            To support HASC to adopt a strengths and asset based approach; and

(iii)          A further detailed update (review of implementation plans) comes back to the Board in March 2021.

8.1      The Board considered a report by the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health focusing on Better Lives, Stronger Communities.

8.2      The Executive Director, Rob Persey, explained that the city’s vision was for everyone in Brighton and Hove to have the best opportunity to live a healthy, happy and fulfilling life at every stage of their life. It was intended to achieve that by working with communities to promote and improve their health and wellbeing and to support people to live independently. A four year programme of work called “Better Lives Stronger Communities” was being planned which would focus on how best the council could work with individuals in the city with care and support needs and their communities. Whilst the overall programme had been paused to enable there to be an effective response to the Covid 19 pandemic, those principles continued to inform the council’s practice and response. The council’s recovery strategy would also seek to take on board the learning which had emerged from the current crisis.

8.2      The Assistant Director, Operations and Transformation/ Health Integration, Grace Hanley, gave a presentation drawing out the main points which had emerged to date and the areas which would be focused on going forward. In order to achieve the vision for better lives and stronger communities it was necessary to find solutions to those issues facing the City with regard to adult social care demand and against that backdrop issues around how the cities citizens could find solutions to support their wellbeing and maintain a good life and to access help and advice when they needed it in order to enable them to live well. The current pandemic had put that into sharp focus and had highlighted that it was vital to work closely and collaboratively with other partners.

8.3      The importance of using a person-centred early help model was recognised and an example was cited of how support had been given to an elderly man who had recently lost his wife. It had transpired during a telephone conversation that he was struggling to maintain his home and to remember to take his medication. As a result of actions put into place a month later he leaving his home to go out was in a much better place mentally and did not require any further help.

8.4      The Chair, Councillor Moonan stated that this was a good example of how small but focused steps could have very positive results.

8.5      Councillor Childs agreed stating that he awaited further progress reports with interest. A stepped-staged approach had been used by professionals in assessing the level of care/support required by his own mother and had resulted in her receiving assistance appropriate to her personal needs. It was very important to have mechanisms in place to enable people to live a dignified and full life to the end. Early intervention was by far the best option and provided the best and most resource effective response in the longer term.

8.7      Councillor Nield noted that the number of cases of early onset dementia appeared to be increasing. Although the reasons for this had not been established it was re-assuring to know that this had been acknowledged and that measures were to be put into place to seek to address that need.

8.8      RESOLVED – The Board resolved that it agreed to:

(i)             To support the direction of travel of BLSC and this programme of work;

(ii)            To support HASC to adopt a strengths and asset based approach; and

(iii)          A further detailed update (review of implementation plans) comes back to the Board in March 2021.