Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mike Park and Steven Wylie.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the panel's meeting held on 7 November 2013 will follow.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2013 were agreed as a correct record.

i)              Information circulated by Tim Hodgetts and Claire Budden in response to issues raised by Alison Croucher's presentation on sheltered housing

ii)             Alison Croucher has provided anonymised accounts provided by sheltered housing residents

i)              Tim Hodgetts explained that discharge teams can be a little disjointed. There are additional pressures in the evening and some patients can be discharged at up to 10pm and services are 9-5pm operations.

ii)             Alison Croucher presented the anonymised accounts provided by sheltered housing residents. She explained that some hospital discharges do go really well but the accounts do provide a fair snapshot of cases. Problems seem to occur with patients who had been in hospital longer. Staff can be hampered due to confidentiality and data protection issues if the next of kin are not involved.

Elaine Bastable, Housing Options Manager to speak about the local authority's housing allocations implications.

Elaine Bastable, Housing Options Manager

Elaine spoke on the allocations policy and general issues. Her team look at all housing demand in the city - hospital discharges are only one element in the allocations scheme, to prevent bed blocking. The team would usually be a part of the hospital discharge discussions for elderly and disabled persons. Homeless persons are looked at through the Homeless Persons legislation. PCC would aim to find accommodation where possible but street drinkers are a major concern but they are often difficult to place and will usually go back to a hostel.

One big problem, is the lack of understanding of what housing can achieve. There is an expectation that there are housing properties lying empty and available. In reality it doesn't work like that. In the interim, it is often difficult to accommodate into a property which meets all identified needs. The OTs work with us (housing options) and a care package is arranged, and we make best use of what is available until a more suitable property is available.

We provide some rehabilitation flats within the council's housing stock and the number of these can be reviewed at any time. We do have a lack of accessible properties in the city, and the recent welfare reforms, which impacts on tenants under occupying, means we no longer have the flexibility of a single person being offered a 2-bedroomed accessible property as they will not get the full rent paid by HB. This is something which needs resolving.

We are building and whenever a new development is proposed we  ask for an 'adapted' unit in all PCC builds, and specify level access in all ground floor properties. There is a housing OT which is a jointly funded role, which sits with housing and social care. We are also involved in extra care housing for elderly persons which is working well. There are no major problems with allocations. We do try to get an officer to attend all discharge meetings although the timings of the meetings can sometimes be an issue.

Tim Hodgetts explained that there are often pressures from discharge from PHT, when the patient is deemed medically fit for discharge by the consultant. At this point adult social care become involved. The OT then visits on the ward and agrees particular equipment. Often this means that the patient cannot go home to their own property (if for example the equipment cannot fit in the property). This then becomes adult social care responsibility and so at this stage we call in the housing allocations team.

Elaine explained that we do have temporary accommodation for homeless persons which we use in a crisis. However it is usually upper floor properties in a high rise block but it would still work for a wheelchair user with a care/support plan in place to address the shortfalls in the property. This is not a perfect solution but does prevent bed blocking while waiting for a more permanent solution.

Members'  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

A provisional date of Thursday 30 January to be considered for a morning meeting with hospital representatives.

It was agreed that a provisional date of Thursday 30 January 2014 at 10am.