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The Newsletter of Social Services North West No 12 October 2002 Page 1 ‘Fines’ no answer to delayed discharges, minister told Strongest cause of concern to
members, at the quarterly meeting of Social Services North West on Friday
20 September at Bootle Town Hall in Sefton, was, once again, the issue of
finance. A robust letter has gone to
Secretary of State Alan Milburn on the proposal to 'fine' local
authorities for delayed discharges. On
the general funding situation, despite the promised 6% increase in
Government funds next year, many pressures remain.
These include the demands of children's services (particularly
external placements), pressure on private care home fees, introducing
fairer charging policies and meeting expectations on delayed discharges.
Finance story Page 2; Meeting
report Page 4 Website
century Log on to www.ssnw.org.uk every Monday! Children’s
rights are main theme of best-yet conference Social Services North West broke a new record when 100 delegates enrolled for its Children’s Issues conference (entitled 'Growing Expectations') at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton on Tuesday 24 September. In opening the conference, Councillor Cliff Morris (Bolton), Chair of Social Services North West welcomed the strong representation from NHS organizations and the education sector, along with many members and officers from Social Services Departments across the North West. Acknowledging that children have fewer rights than others in our society, Councillor Morris said: "Increasingly their voices are being heard, and indeed young people are represented here today to share their views and concerns with you. This conference is designed to put children's best interests centre stage, acknowledging the 'growing expectation' that maximizing the quality of services provided encourages the healthy development of tomorrow's citizens." The
keynote speech was given by Professor Al Aynsley-Green, Chair of the
Children’s Taskforce and National Clinical Director for Children.
Entitling his presentation The Children’s National Service Framework
–A real opportunity to improve the lives of others, Professor
Aynsley-Green stressed the need for partnership at every level to achieve
benefit for children, and spoke of the challenge of overcoming child
poverty. Children need to be seen at the heart of local and national
policy and practice - advocating for them is more necessary than ever. Partnership
the answer, not fines
In a strong
response to Secretary of State Alan Milburn’s consultation on
“Implementing Reimbursement Around Discharge from Hospital”,
Social Services North West Chair Councillor Cliff Morris (Bolton)
set out serious reservations about the proposals.
He wrote: “We believe the proposed system of financial penalties
would be a backward step in a field where closer partnership working and
targeted resources are already achieving considerable improvements, and
where further improvement will undoubtedly follow because the will and
commitment is there.” “Whilst we agree absolutely that older people should not have to wait to leave hospital when they are ready to do so, it is important also that they move to a setting of their choice which is appropriate to their needs. The suggested timescale of three days for producing a care plan is insufficient to ensure a proper decision. “We also strongly agree on the importance of partnerships between health and social care to produce the best outcome for individuals, and one of our top priorities is promoting these partnerships at every level. Across the North West, this way of working is achieving major successes in improving both the care of individuals and the effective use of resources. However, we believe the introduction of financial penalties will inhibit rather than develop the true spirit of partnership, which requires all involved to work together to a shared goal rather than work separately to avoid the risk of penalties. “We support the LGA in urging you to develop constructive incentives to help reduce delayed transfers of care that are framed within a whole systems approach. We note that health sector partners are unhappy with the proposals for crosscharging. We have noted also the analysis undertaken by the ADSS of the Swedish system on which these proposals are based, and support their proposals for an alternative English system that relates appropriately to our own national context.”Click here to go to the full text of the letter to Alan Milburn on delayed discharge Continued
concern on cash for children’s care Councillor
Cliff Morris, in an earlier letter to Secretary of State Alan Milburn,
expressed continued concerns regarding financial pressures on key social
services, despite the injection of £1 billion a year into services for
older people. “There is a continued (and we feel insufficiently
acknowledged) pressure on children’s services,” Councillor Morris
said, “along with ongoing pressures on older peoples services due to the
rising cost of independent sector care and the decline in care home
places. There are also cost
implications of implementing local authority health overview and scrutiny
and the added financial burden of an increase in the Employer’s National
Insurance contribution. “The
amount announced in the Budget was equivalent to just under 20 per cent
increase over three years, whereas the Local Government Association has
estimated that an increase of 30 per cent is required.
There is thus still insufficient funding to address the severe
pressures on social services budgets, and the growing gap between central
government provision and local government spending continues. “We
welcome the extra help you have just announced regarding initiatives to
enable people to stay out of hospital, including intensive help at home
and very sheltered housing for those who need extra support.
We look forward to your proposed legislation to make additional
rehabilitation packages and intermediate care services free.
There is still a danger that with closing care homes and social
services rationing home care due to financial difficulties, older people
will continue to have little real choice. Click here to go to the full text of the letter to Alan Milburn on finance issues Hearing
the voices of children and families The voice of young people was heard loud and clear at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton on Tuesday 24 September 2002. Chair of the Children’s Taskforce and National Clinical Director for Children Professor Al Aynsley-Green gave the keynote speech, stressing the need for partnership at every level to achieve benefit for children. Professor Aynsley-Green acknowledged that in children's services, there is a great deal that is very good, but said that the impact of poverty on children's health was a major challenge for us all. He highlighted a key message from the Kennedy Report: ‘to accept or acknowledge that the health care needs of children and young people are different from those of adults’ and stressed the need for Children's Champions as the key to getting change. “Where is the Children’s Commissioner for England?” he asked. He then described the work in progress on the National Service Framework for Children, which will set out some key standards. In the new local organisational structures, children should be a focus - now! Children need to be seen at the heart of local and national policy and practice - advocating for them is more necessary than ever. The next presentation was on Bolton’s integrated services short break care for children with physical disabilities. Jan Hutchinson, Director of Public Health, Bolton and Lynne Jones, Assistant Director Children and Families introduced the presentation, outlining Bolton's track record of effective partnership working for children. Children's Rights Officer Mandy Naylor described how she conducted the consultation with the children, their families and the staff. Members of the Parents Group Lynne Cowley and Joanne Gibbons shared their perspective on the services they and their children received, and on the work of the Parents Advisory Group. Elizabeth Mannion, Principal Officer for Disabilities, Bolton Social Services described the model of integrated commissioning which is now being developed.Then Martin Hazlehurst, Assistant Director of First Key, the National Leaving Care Advisory organisation introduced a presentation on Young People Leaving Care by describing the role and activities of A National Voice. Its aim is to give young people a real voice in influencing how the care system treats them, by creating opportunities for them to contribute to both the national and local debate about the care system. The major impact of this session came from a group of young people from A National Voice North West Regional Forum, who through a forceful drama and individual speeches, conveyed a strong message of what it felt like to be 'in care', and what their own hopes and aspirations were for the future. The
enigmatic title Ducks don’t shop in Sainsbury’s was chosen by
Ken Campbell, Implementation Team Advisor for the education of looked
after children, Department for Education and Skills. Ken described
his team's remit to assist local authorities to implement the Guidance on
the Education of Young People in Public Care. He examined specific
important elements of the Guidance and demonstrated how the work of the
Implementation Team addresses these issues. Amie Proudman
representing A National Voice made another powerful pitch about the need
for education to be of high quality and relevant to the needs of young
people looked after, then read the poem which gave the session its title. Click here to go to the reports of the Growing Expectations conference September meeting topics Members and officers from across the North West,
gathered at the quarterly meeting of Social Services North West on Friday
20 September at Bootle Town Hall in Sefton, examined a number of key
issues. Strongest cause of concern was, once again, the issue of
finance, featured on Pages 1 and 2, but a number of other issues were
considered. Members noted the response to Deputy Prime Minister
John Prescott concerning the recent White Paper Your Region, Your
Choice. “As a regional body,” we told Prescott, “we have a
vital interest in the future of regional government in England, and can
attest to the importance and value of working on the development of public
services at the regional level. For
many years we have worked closely with the regional offices of the NHS and
Social Services Inspectorate, and since their formation we have forged
links with the North West Development Agency and North West Regional
Assembly. “We welcome the Government’s recognition of the highly centralised nature of government in England, and its commitment to devolution. It is particularly important, as the White Paper says, to ‘be able to join up – and where necessary rationalise – the many strategies and partnerships in the regions’. The Department of Health is constantly stressing the
indivisibility of health and social care, and it is one of our highest
priorities to work closely with the NHS to maximise seamless service
delivery to those needing both forms of care.
We welcome the devolution of power within the NHS to local level,
and our members are rapidly developing close partnerships with the Primary
Care Trusts, which are emerging as the key drivers of improved health care
at the local level. We look
forward to the time when the Government will devolve further
responsibilities for the delivery of health and social care to the English
regions. Regional health issues
Efforts are also continuing to secure a meeting with the Chairs and Chief Executives of the three new Strategic Health Authorities in the North West. Other matters covered at the September meeting in Bootle included:
Click here to go to the agenda papers for the meeting of Social Services North West on 20 September Click here to go to the minutes of the meeting of Social Services North West on 20 September
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