The report of the Director of Quality and Nursing - West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (Bradford) (Document “M”) presents the Annual Report for Children Looked After and Care Leavers April 2020 – March 2021

The annual report (appendix 1) has been written by the Designated Doctor for Children Looked after on behalf of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board for the period of April 2021 - March 2022. 

The General Manager of Community Services, responsible for the (health) Children Looked After team at BDCT has provided an up-to-date position, working in partnership with BTHFT and ANHSFT, (appendix 2).

Recommended -  

Members are asked to consider the information provided within the report. Members are welcome to ask a question or raise a comment at the meeting to gain clarity or for assurance.  

(Dr Catherine Murray - 01274 237523)

The report of the Director of Quality and Nursing – West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (Bradford) (Document “M”) presented the Annual Report for Children Looked After and Care Leavers April 2020 – March 2021.

The Officer reported that this would be the second annual report to the Committee and it would be good practice to continue to produce these reports.

The report highlighted the key aims, matters of legislation, the scope of the Looked After and Care Leavers team and compared numbers of children looked after per 10,000 with Bradford statistical neighbours. The report also provided some information about initial health assessments and review health assessments and provided some key areas of focus for 2022/23.

The report also highlighted some successes in the delivery of a health service to Looked After Children and Car Leavers, the report also referred to the challenges of provision of care, in meeting statutory timescales and of capacity limitations within the context of the year-on-year growth of children becoming looked after across the Bradford District.

The officer further stated that comparatively numbers were far steeper for looked after and Care Leavers in Bradford than neighbouring local authorities. It was reported that children who were coming into care had very complex needs, Bradford had a young population, with the fourth highest proportion of under 16 year olds in England.

The Officer explained that an initial health assessment was carried out by a registered medical practitioner, the statutory guidance stated that IHA’s should be done within 20 working days of entering care, any child that was deemed high risk was seen as priority.

It was reported that there were around 116 missed appointments by young people and a huge waste of resources but staff/colleagues were working to reduce this and some great progress has been made however, the amount of children and young people coming to care was outstripping the resources.

Members of the Committee were concerned that statutory guidelines were not being met when carrying out the initial health assessments as they had to take place within 20 days of entering care.

The Officer reported that Bradford was not alone in this as it was an issue faced by many local authorities, sometimes it was not possible to gain consent to see the patient however, this issue was being addressed and worked on.

Members asked what the status was on statutory guidance regarding IHA’s.

The Officer reported that there were no penalties however, it was not good practice to go over the 20-day timeline for carrying out health assessments. The Service was swapping notes in West Yorkshire to see how best to tackle this issue.

Members were keen to understand the potential risks to children and young people.

The Officer advised that a weekly meeting is held around children who came into care and any case/s that are recognised as being in any potential danger are escalated.

Members of the Committee asked if professionals were looking into why children were missing appointments.

The Officer reported that reminders were sent to patients were there was still a low turn out to appointments. It was suggested by the reporting officer that the service needed to get better at reporting issues and progress to the Committee on a regular basis.

A member of the Committee questioned if a mobile unit can be placed at schools for the purpose of being more approachable or carry out home visits to children who have failed to attend appointments.

The Officer stated that they have tried to get people out to see patients who have missed appointments but there were simply not enough resources to continue this.

Members were concerned regarding the persistent issue around gaining consent for children, Members asked why children were being placed in care of people who could not take them to appointments.

The Officer advised that there was a process that could work around this issue, such as, Care Order but there were also young people of consenting age who were not complying.

A Member of the Committee commented that colleagues in Health and Children’s social care needed to work together to overcome issues. The Member also suggested that there needed to be a process of engagement and encouragement with young people.

Members sought clarity on up to date figures of service users.

The Officer reported that the key focus areas for 2022/23 for Partners to address were:

·       To identify where there were delays and problems/cause of problems

·       To work closely with Local Authority to improve contractual agreement and policy & procedures to strengthen the governance and strategic support.

·       To respond to any relevant areas of concern highlighted in the SEND Inspection Written Statement Action.

·       Improve attendance at appointments and data collection.

Members suggested that there should be an inclusion of actions taken to help young people attend appointments in the next report and also the impact of initial health assessments, how children were being supported collectively.

Resolved –

(1)  This Committee requests that the Annual Report for Children Looked After and Care Leavers be presented to this Committee in September 2023, to also include:

§  Details of the progress against the Action Plan;

§  Outcomes of the Children’s Health Assessments being undertaken;

§  Percentage of Children’s Health Assessments being done within Statutory guideline timelines, in comparison with statistical neighbours and national comparators.

ACTION – Director of Quality and Nursing

(Dr Catherine Murray – 01274 237523)