Lewisham Care Home supervision My Question to Council

Question asked by:  Mr R Woolford (on behalf of Lewisham People Before Profit)

Member to reply:       Councillor Best

Question

Can the Council confirm what monitoring and checks are in place across the care homes of vulnerable residents of all ages in the borough to ensure that the scandals and abuse exposed by the BBC, are not to be found in Lewisham?

Reply

The monitoring and review of contracts covers the following areas:

·        Contract monitoring

·        Individual case review

·        Complaints

·        Service reviews

·        Regulation

Once a residential or nursing home placement has been identified with the service user and their family as a suitable home, there is a process in place to ensure that the service user receives a good service.

All commissioned services are routinely monitored for contract compliance and acceptable performance and quality.

The aim of Lewisham’s contract monitoring is to ensure that the services

delivered by care homes are delivered in line with the contract and specification and are providing care of the highest quality. Monitoring helps provide qualitative observations and data on how well services are being provided and whether desired service outcomes are being achieved.

Contract Management Tool and various Care Homes Monitoring Framework

are in place to ensure consistent approach to monitoring performance. Contract monitoring takes place at least on a quarterly basis for block contracts and large spot contracts. Where the local authority has few residents, for example one or two in a care home, appropriate, and proportionate monitoring is undertaken. This can take the form of individual case review, and shared monitoring with other local authorities.  Officers also carry out unannounced visits, which may be as a result of whistle blowing or any concerns raised by relatives, residents in the care homes or others.

Where there are high volumes of concern over a range of matters relating to the quality of care in a particular home an enhanced level of contract monitoring and support for a particular home will ensue. Where a service provider is not performing adequately, the Council will work closely with the provider to address the areas of concerns and produce a plan to rectify failings so that the risk of a re-occurrence is either reduced and or eliminated.

In cases where poor performance is consistent and frequent or where the breach is very serious, the Council has legal means it can pursue to adjust or terminate the contract. The details of this are set out clearly in the contract. In reaching a view about the appropriate response, the Council also has regard to the likely impact on service users. This includes striking a balance between encouraging performance improvement and identifying those circumstances where it is unlikely that the service will be successfully delivered and where service users may suffer as a result. The likelihood of re-occurrence of the issue is also considered.

The Council has at its disposal a number of notices that it can serve on a provider. They include:

·        default notices

·        partial validations

·        breach or mutual breach

·        suspension of placements under safeguarding protocol