Purpose

The purpose of the report is to seek approval
to use the existing Warm Homes Scheme contract to deliver a
Hospital Discharge Project.  The project
is funded through a reallocation of funding provided to the
Council’s Public Health Team by NHS Cheshire and
Merseyside.  The Hospital Discharge
Project will utilise the current Warm Homes Scheme contract to
undertake a project to deliver urgent essential works to homes to
enable safe hospital discharge of Knowsley owner occupiers, where
the current condition of the property is preventing
discharge.  Works may range from a
heating service and low level electrical works to in exceptional
circumstances boiler / heating system replacements and full
electrical rewires.   The Hospital
Discharge Project aims to facilitate more timely hospital discharge
of patients and will have positive health and wellbeing benefits
for patients, who overwise would have to stay in hospital for
longer than they are required.  It also
reduces the risk of re-admission where the home environment
prevents a full recovery or exacerbates existing illness. The
project will support the more complex hospital discharge cases
and  will assist hospitals in reducing
discharge delays, freeing up hospital bed spaces, relieving
hospital winter pressures and help to reduce avoidable
costs. 

Decision

That the Executive Director (Resources) in
consultation with the Leader of the Council hereby:
 
i)        Approves the
re-allocation of £0.050m of the funding provided to the
Council’s Public Health Team by the National Health Service
to be utilised through the Council’s Warm Homes Scheme to
deliver the Hospital Discharge Project to support Knowsley
homeowners to be discharged from hospital where there are heating,
plumbing and/or electrical issues in their homes which would delay
discharge if they were not addressed.
 
That the Executive Director (Regeneration and
Economic Development) in consultation with the Regeneration and
Economic Development Cabinet Member hereby:-
 
ii)        Approves the
Council’s Warm Homes Scheme contract to be used for the
Hospital Discharge Project to provide heating, electrical and
plumbing works to the homes of Knowsley homeowners which will
support their discharge from hospital.
iii)       Approves the
development of a project referral process between Strategic
Housing, Public Health and Adult Social
Care to enable the delivery of the project.