Agenda and minutes

None.

Scrutiny Committee Public Open Forum ~ Guidance

Our Scrutiny Committee meetings are live streamed and a link to the live stream will be available on the meeting page of the Monmouthshire County Council website

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The deadline for submitting representations to the Council is 5pm three clear working days in advance of the meeting. 

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No submissions were received.

To discuss service provision in Monmouthshire with the Chair of the Dementia Board.

Amanda Whent and Natasha Harris delivered the presentation and answered the members’ questions with Clare Morgan and Cabinet Member Tudor Thomas.

Challenge:

Chair: Thank you for coming today and for your presentation which has been really helpful.  I would like to focus on three separate aspects today, these being firstly the pre-diagnosis stage in terms of how we educate the public on dementia on the signs to be aware of and how we mitigate risks, then the diagnosis stage itself and the assessment process and support given and then the post-diagnosis stage and the care journey thereon. We have some set questions that we identified in our pre-discussion, so there my first question is for our officers and our Cabinet Member in terms of explaining how the Council works alongside partners and clarifying the role of the authority?

The Council works very closely with the Aneurin Beavan University Health Board (ABUHB) and is the only Gwent authority to have social workers embedded in the community health team, so people get an integrated service with a single assessment, a single health plan and as such, outcomes for people are much better. Social workers work with the occupational therapists, the psychiatrists, the psychologists, the psychiatric nurses and memory assessment services. The support workers are embedded in the team, so it is truly a joined-up model that delivers what the legislation specifies.

What support is provided before and after diagnosis?   For example, in your presentation, you mention under standards 11-15, that “contact will be made regarding providing emotional support 48 hours after diagnosis” and that “within 12 weeks post diagnosis, support will be provided to end of life”.  I just wondered whether this is realistic, given current staffing problems?

The reality is that whilst there is an incredible amount of work being undertaken, there is a lot of work to be done. The workstream 2A is a pathway for memory assessment services and takes into account how we can raise awareness and understanding of services available pre diagnosis and signposting people to how to get further support. There is a multi-disciplinary/multi-agency team that is engaged in the process of remodelling the pathway, looking at where there are gaps, what additional posts, skills, and services are needed. There is Welsh Government funding available via the regional investment fund that we can bid for, but it’s not simply about funding. We need to ensure that we have structures in place to respond to individual needs.

How do we work alongside families to support them?

From a Monmouthshire Council point of view, it’s not just about services that are described in the action plan, but if we become aware somebody might be struggling, under the requirements of the Social Services and Well-being Act, we’d offer them and assessment  to understand their needs and we’d signpost them to existing services. We have early intervention support groups that are not necessarily dementia specific, and we’d encourage people towards any group they are interested in. For example, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Consultation with the Scrutiny Committee on the draft Gwent Well-being Plan.

Richard Jones presented the report and answered the members’ questions with Sharran Lloyd.

Challenge/Feedback:

It’s difficult to give feedback on this report because there isn’t enough depth or detail. The document is too vague and generic for us to comment. The committee needs greater clarity on who is responsible for the roles described in section 2.8. For example, how will the aims be measured?  It is also unclear how the community engagement is being undertaken.

Chair’s Summary:

I’m afraid we are unable to add any value through scrutinising this report given the feedback we have given that the document is too vague. We are happy to scrutinise a more refined report in due course.

The minutes were confirmed and signed as an accurate record, proposed by Councillor Butler and seconded by Councillor Rooke.

The forward work plan was noted.  The Scrutiny Manager advised the committee that a report would be brought to Council on 19^th January 2023 to nominate two members to sit on the regional Joint Scrutiny Committee for the Gwent Public Service Board. She suggested that to ensure line of sight between local activity in Monmouthshire that may be scrutinised by this committee and regional activity that would be scrutinised by the Joint Scrutiny Committee, that it would be sensible if the membership was drawn from this committee. The chair and vice chair asked whether there was any interest from the committee members in undertaking this role. In the absence of any indication of interest, the chair and vice chair agreed they would be happy to undertake the joint scrutiny role if Council were to agree to their nomination. 

The Cabinet and Council forward work plan was noted.