The Committee noted the contents of all of the reports presented to it. Visits to Change Grow Live's Substance Misuse Service will be arranged for committee members. Training will be provided to Members on the safeguarding framework for the protection of adults with care and support needs. The Committee requested that future annual reports provide information on the work of the Disability Oversight Panel.

Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Social Care: Annual Report 2023/24

The Committee reviewed the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Social Care, Councillor Anna Wright.

The Committee welcomed the comprehensive and confident report, commending the wide range of initiatives being progressed.

The Chair requested that health colleagues be asked to report on the approach to unwarranted variation by GP surgeries and pharmacies. The Executive Director Adults and Health agreed to explore how a social model lens could shape the commissioning of services. Officers agreed to provide data to the Committee on vacancy and agency staff numbers across Adult Social Care. The Executive Director Adults and Health highlighted that the Homelessness System Transformation was an iterative process with people with lived experience at its heart, and that the Integrated Care Board was identifying funding for additional capacity in homelessness services over the longer term.

The Committee commended the growth of the Community Champions Programme and the Active for Life project. The Cabinet Member expressed commitment to the Community Champions programme, explaining that its development was necessarily slow.

The Director of Adult Social Care Strategy and Commissioning explained that Adult Social Care Commissioning had been working with the Royal College of Art to fundamentally rethink how residents are supported in their own homes. The Executive Director Adults and Health agreed to discuss progress on recommendations made following a coproduction exercise with Good Work Camden undertaken by Camden Disability Action.

The Chair requested a list of all initiatives that had been raised in the previous year, detailing what was completed and what was still being worked on.

Camden Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board: Annual Report 2023-2024

The Committee reviewed the annual report of the Camden Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board (SAPB). The Executive Director Adults and Health informed the committee that Christabel Shawcross, the outgoing Independent Chair, had stood down at the end of September 2024.

The Executive Director Adults and Health proposed that the new Independent Chair could lead a training session for Members on the safeguarding framework for the protection of adults with care and support needs.

Noting that the report identified strategic objectives but that there was a lack of outcomes identified for the work of the Board, it was queried how the Board evidenced the difference it made to service delivery. Members were concerned about how problems, like the financial unviability of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, that could affect vulnerable members of the community were addressed by the Board. The Executive Director Adults and Health acknowledged concerns about the lack of outcomes in the report, explaining that the outgoing Independent Chair had sought to support the Board in using data, evidence and insight, and this would be demonstrated in the next annual report. The Executive Director Adults and Health also explained that membership from the health sector had been stabilised over recent years, with the trusts and Integrated Care Board bringing information to the Board more routinely, including on CQC assessments.

The Executive Director Adults and Health suggested that the three statutory partners could attend future conversations about the annual report alongside the Independent Chair.

The Chair suggested that the annual report could address outcomes from the previous year’s priorities.

Concern was expressed about the unnecessarily complex language used in the report.

The Executive Member Adults and Health explained that the 5% increase in referrals to Adult Social Care was reflective of the national data.

Response to the Screening and Prevention Panel's Recommendations

The Committee reviewed the Council’s response to the final report of the Screening and Prevention Panel.

Members expressed frustration with some of the responses from partners and it was stressed that something had to be done to improve uptake of screening and level out health inequalities. Members noted that it had been challenging to identify who to direct recommendations to, and suggested that further reports on progress be scheduled regularly with the right people invited to address any questions.

The Director of Health and Wellbeing agreed that there was diffuse responsibility for screening, and noted that responsibility had not been devolved to local areas as for immunisation. The Director of Health and Wellbeing also agreed to provide the committee with data on the number of women being diagnosed with cancer and waiting times for treatment.

It was agreed to explore how Members could meet with Community Champions to discuss what feedback they were receiving from residents.

The Director Health and Wellbeing explained that the developing Women's Health Hub offer could be brought to committee.

An update on work with the learning disabled population to raise awareness of cancer screening would be provided to the committee at a future meeting.

Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and Action Tracker

The Committee reviewed its work programme for 2024/25.

Members requested that Healthwatch Camden provide a general overview of their work over the year, alongside the specific topics they had scheduled. Officers agreed to bring a report to committee on the engagement between trade unions and Shaw Healthcare.

The Chair requested that a report be scheduled specifically addressing the health elements of the cross-service work underway to address anti-social behaviour holistically.

Officers agreed to bring a report to the February meeting on how mental health social workers would work in future through integrated neighbourhood teams. A report on how the new duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace would be implemented in Camden’s social care and healthcare sectors was requested.