Report of the Chief Executive, Manchester Local Care Organisation

Further to the establishment of the Manchester Local Care Organisation (MLCO) as a public sector partnership on April 1^st 2018 through the agreement and signing of a Partnering Agreement, this paper provides Scrutiny Committee with a further update of progress made across core business areas of MLCO. Scrutiny Committee are advised that this paper builds on the update provided in October 2018.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive, Manchester Local Care Organisation (MLCO) that provided Members with an update on the progress made across core business areas of MLCO.

The Chief Executive, MLCO referred to the main points of the report which were: -

·                Describing the MLCO Delivery Priorities in 2018/19 that had been defined by the business plan which was approved by Partners at the MLCO Partnership Board in March 2018;

·                High Impact Primary Care, the key new care model that had been designed as a response to the small percentage of the Manchester population that were very vulnerable and had such complex health and social care needs that they find it difficult to navigate and access the standard services offered across General Practice, community nursing and social care;

·                An update on Integrated Neighbourhood Working;

·                Manchester Community Response (MCR), a seven-day service that provided community based intermediate care, reablement and rehabilitation services to patients, often older people, after leaving hospital or when they are at risk of being sent to hospital;

·                An update on the Adult Social Care Improvement Programme;           

·                Engagement activities with staff, partners and patients;

·                Describing the MRI priority discharges and escalation work to support local people by working to prevent the need for admission to hospital wherever possible, and getting people home from hospital in a timely and safe manner when they do need hospital care; and

·                MLCO Business Plan and Phase 2.

Members welcomed the report and the progress delivered to date, noting that some Members of the Committee had recently met the Neighbourhood Leads in their area. A Member commented that he was disappointed that the report did not mention any work or activities with Public Health. The Chief Executive, MLCO noted the comment, however reassured the Committee that addressing the social injustice of health inequalities and delivering preventative work was fundamental to the work and success of the MLCO.

A Member enquired what was being done to support the cohort of patients who had historically found it difficult to engage with services, such as drug and mental health services due to entrenched problems, or on occasion services had failed to support patients with complex needs appropriately due to services working in silos.  The Chief Executive, MLCO commented that the MLCO brought teams of health professionals together, with the correct skills set to better coordinate and deliver care in a multi-disciplinary and collaborative manner.

The Director of Adult Social Care stated that the Complex Reablement Team had been established to engage with and offer the appropriate support and treatment for those patients with complex needs from staff with the appropriate skills set, as it was recognised that services had not previously addressed those patients needs in a coordinated way.

The Chief Operating Officer, MLCO advised that the leadership role within the Neighbourhood Teams would be responsible for coordinating services and care across those teams and the system would be flexible to respond to need so that the correct interventions could be delivered to support people appropriately. He further informed the Committee that a Mental Health Lead would be appointed to each Neighbourhood Team which was welcomed by the Members.

A Member noted that people often fell into difficulties with their housing provider as a consequence of their health and that had an impact on both them and their families. The Chief Executive, MLCO commented that the wider determents of health were understood and that included housing. The Director of Adult Social Care advised that a dedicated post within the MLCO would be established to focus on the issue of housing.

In response to a question regarding the reported increase in Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards referrals the Director of Adult Social Care said that this reflected a national trend following a recent High Court Judgement ruling. She said that teams are currently being recruited to respond to this increase in demand.   

Decision

To note the report.