Agenda item

Victoria Nestor, Depuy Director and John Everson, Director of Adult Social Care, presented a report on scrutiny review evidence on the review of the Adult Social Care front door.

The following was noted during the discussion of this agenda item:

·       The purpose of the scrutiny review was to consider how residents were able to access Adult Social Care (ASC) to ensure that residents were getting a good experience, both in terms of access by telephone, e-mail, and letter.

·       There were some challenges and factors that indicated that processes were not working as well as they should. One of the challenges included the migration to online referral forms. The referrals forms had to be streamlined, clear and easy for professionals to use to obtain the right amount of information, and enough data to help make quick decisions. Another issue was around the use of telephony and the types of systems available. It was challenging to keep a track of the number of calls that came through, waiting times and call drop-off rates. It was important to have a good system in place to manage the front door of the service, particularly when it was phone-based. It was also essential to solve people's problems at the first point of contact and to make sure that there was an integrated front door connected with the borough’s partnership.

·       Furthermore, to help tackle some of the other challenges around assess through the front door, the Council had provided training and development to staff within the ASC service in August 2023.

·       In terms of front door performance, data indicated that the e-mail backlog had reduced by 97%. Alongside the reduction, the system was able to review and triage e-mails more efficiently dependent on the risk and emails were being responded to within 14 days.  Emails that were classed as higher risk were being responded to on the day.

·       Furthermore, data had also helped the service to make improvements and understand the demographics of the service users.

·       There was also evidence of increased quality of referrals. Unnecessary inbox traffic was removed and redirected from the service by an average of 28.5% per month. Any referrals that were wrongly sent to ASC would be moved out of the inbox and redirected accordingly.

·       The Committee was advised that in February 2024 there were around 289 phone calls made to the service, equating to an average of 14 calls per day. The average wait time was 1 minute 54 seconds and 75% of calls were answered in less than a minute. This data was used to manage colleagues being available on the phone at peak times.

·       In terms of streamlining triage processes, this was aimed to prioritise incoming requests based on urgency and to assign dedicated triage officers to ensure swift assessment and decision making.

·       The service had been looking to establish a dedicated helpline for non-urgent enquiries so the main phone line could focus more on urgent cases.

·       The service was also looking to redesign the redesign of the ASC website to be more user friendly with clear navigation and plain language.

·       Feedback and survey tools were used to collect feedback from residents about their service experiences to make improvements accordingly.

·       In terms of the transitioning to move into ASC, it was noted that to be eligible, the individual would need to have a high level of needs. The process would involve having conversations between Children's Services and Adult Services. However, the importance of the transition was noted to ensure a smooth pathway and to prepare young people for adulthood, making sure that they had the same life chances as much as possible as any other young person.

·       In response to a question regarding frontline support for people with health conditions, the Committee was informed that frontline practitioners would have access to a directory of services to provide additional support for people with conditions like Parkinson's or MSS, by linking up with specialist organisations.

·       The Committee noted that the Adult Social Care Survey evidenced that there was an increase in the proportion of people who used services, who found it easy to find information about services. Data showed an increase from 63% the previous year, to 70% this year. This was higher than the London average, which was 65%.

·       In terms of support provided for families, Officers advised that the service would have conversations to understand the network around the individual and would offer a carer's assessment to identify their caring role. The Carer Hub is also available where tailor-made support was provided.

·       In response to a question, the Committee was advised that there was a number of  access points for ASC and this could sometimes be confusing. The service had been working towards streamlining this and was committed to ensuring that service users receive a swift and high-quality response that would help solve their problems at the first point of contact.

The Committee thanked officers for their attendance.