The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission meeting included a presentation on hoarding, an update on the Blue Badge scheme, and a review of Healthwatch Southwark's annual report and priorities. Also scheduled for discussion was the scrutiny review of cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

Healthwatch Southwark

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission were scheduled to review Healthwatch Southwark's Annual Report 2024-25 and Priorities Report 2025-26.

The annual report highlighted that Healthwatch Southwark supported over 4,395 people, with the help of 200 volunteers and Community Health Ambassadors. It noted key projects such as the Latin American access to services project, which led to health information being published in Spanish and Portuguese, and the exploration of access and barriers to services for people with learning disabilities and autistic adults, which resulted in a new Inclusive Surgeries programme.

The priorities report outlined three main areas of focus for 2025-26:

• Temporary accommodation and health: This priority aims to explore how housing conditions and instability affect people's health and access to care. This aligns with Southwark Council's Decent Homes for All goal and the South East London Anchor System's focus on housing as a determinant of health.
• Children and young people's mental health and social care experiences: This priority focuses on early support, transitions to adult services, and the impact of social care. This aligns with Southwark's Good Start in Life strategy and the South East London Integrated Care System's (SELICS) Start Well workstream.
• Southwark Resource Centre (Disabilities Hub): This priority involves using statutory powers to review services supporting vulnerable residents.

Hoarding

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission were scheduled to receive a presentation on hoarding, described as evidence for the scrutiny review on safeguarding.

The presentation defined hoarding disorder as:

a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value, due to a perceived need to save them.

It was noted that hoarding can be a disorder in its own right or related to other health problems such as dementia, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. The presentation outlined different types of hoarding, including:

• Inanimate objects: Accumulation of items like clothes, newspapers, or containers.
• Animal hoarding: Collecting animals without the ability to provide proper care.
• Data hoarding: Storing large amounts of data or equipment.
• Financial hoarding: Refusal to spend money or accumulation of cash due to fear of loss.

The presentation also referred to Diogenes Syndrome¹, characterised by extreme self-neglect, domestic squalor, social withdrawal, and hoarding.

The legal framework in adult social care, particularly the Care Act 2014² and the Mental Capacity Act 2005³, was highlighted. The Care Act 2014 recognises hoarding as a manifestation of self-neglect, which is a safeguarding concern.

The presentation also detailed the Southwark Hoarding Panel, which plays a safeguarding role by supporting officers in managing complex hoarding cases. It was noted that nationally, it is estimated that between 2% and 6% of the UK population may have a hoarding condition, but only about 5% seek specialist support. In Southwark, it's estimated that between 3,000 and 6,000 individuals may be affected by hoarding.

Options for support for people that hoard in Southwark were listed as:

• London Fire Brigade (LFB): Conducts Home Fire Safety Visits and makes safeguarding referrals.
• Environmental Health: Can act under the Public Health Act 1936⁴, Environmental Protection Act, and the Housing Act 2004⁵ when hoarding creates unsafe conditions.
• Housing: Emphasises a multi-agency, long-term support strategy.
• Adult Social Care: Can offer support to manage hoarding, bringing it to a safe level, if a person has eligible care needs under the Care Act.

Blue Badge Scheme

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission were scheduled to receive an update on the Blue Badge Scheme[^7], following a briefing provided in February 2025.

Cancer Prevention and Early Diagnosis

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Commission were scheduled to undertake a scrutiny review of cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

Other items

The agenda also included:

• Apologies for absence.
• Notification of any urgent items of business.
• Disclosure of interests and dispensations.
• Minutes from the meeting held on 16 October.
• Discussion of the work programme.