The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) will submit a report    (Document “E”) updating Members in relation to outcomes in respect of the annual health check and dental check Key Performance Indicators for Looked after Children set by the Department of Education and detailing the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Health Offer in Bradford.

Members’ views are requested.

                                                            (Emma Collingwood - 01274 437123)

The Deputy Director (Children's Social Care) submitted a report (Document “E”) which updated Members in relation to outcomes in respect of the annual health check and dental check key performance indicators for Looked after Children (LAC) set by the Department of Education and detailing the Looked After Children and Care Leavers’ Health Offer in Bradford.

In presenting the report the following points were also highlighted:

·         Data was received on a monthly basis.

·         The Looked After Nursing Team had been set up 14 years ago and since that time the numbers had increased from approximately 600 to over 1000.

·         All LAC had a named nurse who worked closely with the Through Care Service (TCS).

·         An app was being developed in relation to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) which should allow a more robust picture to be achieved in relation to any individual’s wellbeing at any point in time.

·         The Therapeutic Social Care Team was a small team but its members were working hard to try and maximise its impact.

·         The two Care Leavers Nurses were creative in their engagement with young people, this included running various support groups on relevant issues.

·         There were challenges arising from the increase in numbers and the level of resources but a stronger partnership approach was being pursued.

The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) representative said that she considered that the key issues was that there was an exceptional, dedicated team of nurses for looked after children. In many areas this work was undertaken by standard services whereas in Bradford there were specialists and the aim was for a young person to have one named nurse throughout their time in care.

In response to a question about dealing with the increase in numbers, she explained that a service review was being undertaken by the CCG (which was expected to be concluded by January 2019) and the team was also looking at creative ways of working to maximise the available resources and to avoid duplication across different services. The situation was complex due to the number of services involved.

The Deputy Director said that those young people who were waiting for their initial assessment were tracked on a weekly basis to ensure that if any problems did arise they could be prioritised. A smarter and faster service was now being provided.

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services said that it was recognised that there was massive demand in the system; the Council had a similar issue with social worker capacity, and work was being done to try and ensure smarter working. He undertook to speak to the Chief Officer for the CCGs, about resourcing, as a priority but stressed that there was no criticism of the CCG.

The Deputy Director said that the issue was already being discussed with the CCG. The key issue for the TCS was the completion of the initial assessment within the 28 day period in order to facilitate future planning.  The Director of Strategic Partnerships had agreed to look into this and to see what could be done in respect of additional staffing in the interim period until the review was concluded.

The CCG representative agreed that the present situation needed to be addressed but said that it was important to avoid a ‘quick fix’ at the expense of quality of provision. The service had been operating with greatly reduced resources but had managed to maintain performance of 89% (annual health assessments), there had also been issues in respect of sickness absences and doctors’ resources.

Members commented as follows:

·         It was important, in addressing the backlog for CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), that this was not dealt with by pulling resources away from their other work where there were also long waiting times as this would further increase stress on families.

·         By the time an individual had been on a waiting list for mental health assistance for 3 years they would need more support than if they had been seen in a timely manner.

·         The current working arrangements gave the young people consistency.

The CCG representative said that the agency would be mindful of the issue of CAMHS support as part of the review; there were concerns generally in respect of mental health support and this was a nationwide issue.

The Strategic Director noted that there were many strengths in the existing model and the question was how to alleviate the current issues.

The CCG representative agreed stating that the partnership working and the dedicated LAC Nurses Team operated very effectively.

Resolved –

That the Chair contact the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Bradford and Airedale Clinical Commissioning Groups, on behalf of the Panel, on the basis that the strength of the existing model is recognised but that additional resources are needed for the Looked After Nursing Team as a priority pending the results of the on-going review of the Looked After Children and Care Leavers Health and Pathway.

ACTION:       Chair of the Corporate Parenting Panel

                        Deputy Director (Children's Social Care)

                        Strategic Director, Children’s Services.