Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Managing Director, Care Dorset.

The Chair of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Care Dorset introduced the report, which provided an update on matters relating to Care Dorset since the previous meeting. This included work relating to governance arrangements to increase levels of assurance, key staff appointments and engagement with service users.

Councillors considered the issues arising from the report and during discussion, the following points were raised:

·       With regard to St Martins, there were around 30 flats to be filled in line with the council’s nominations process. The fill rate was in line with the expectation of the commissioning service

·       Occupancy across reablement beds had been impacted by challenges with local general practice provision for one setting. This had been resolved in part through discussions with Dorset Council colleagues, in order to manage the needs of individuals leaving hospital and the pressure on the general practice. It was thought that there was a capacity issue in the specific case

·       The budget had been impacted by higher than expected agency costs. Although there were still challenges with agency use, a plan had been put in place to assist with managing the costs. A role for the new chief commercial officer was to continue to grow the organisation, to assist with managing costs

·       The Cabinet member for Adult Social Care commended the report for the progress made, particularly with regard to the governance improvements. In addition, he noted the Care Quality Commission (CQC) routine inspection for Castleman House, which had rated the service as “Good” across all five domains and demonstrated ongoing progress.

The report was NOTED.