Council responds to report on care

Calderdale Council has welcomed a report about the provision of care in the borough, and is responding to the concerns raised.

The Equal Care Co-op and Open Data Services have published the ‘Buying Our Care: Experiences, Grievances and Hurdles’ report, which investigates service quality in the care system and the experience of people getting support in Calderdale, and includes interviews with Council officers in Calderdale and Islington.

The report shares the stories of people receiving care, family members and care staff. These resulted in recommendations for improvements in care provided at home, in the community and in care homes. The Council takes its care responsibilities very seriously and is reviewing practices and taking action to ensure the best possible services to local communities. It has met with the families involved in the report and is looking into their individual concerns.

The Council is also keen to work with the local community and the Nur e Sabil group, which has formed as a result of the report. The group’s goal is to empower Calderdale people to understand their rights and to help them have a voice when purchasing care for their loved ones.

The report’s recommendations include the need for:

More personalised and tailored assessments of the needs of people receiving care, with a recognition of their backgrounds, interests and current and former wishes and aspirations.
Greater involvement of individuals and their families in all stages of care, including assessments and forming support plans, and a stronger voice in the care provided, ensuring everyone is aware of their rights.
Effective training and support for social and care workers in relation to providing culturally-appropriate support, with a particular focus on religious practice, customs and language.

Cllr Josh Fenton-Glynn, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Wellbeing, said:

“We welcome the publication of this report and want to express our thanks to everyone involved for their time and willingness to contribute.
“We particularly want to thank those who have shared their own experiences and those of their family members. We want you to know that we have heard your voices and we acknowledge and appreciate that it has been difficult and distressing for you to share your stories.
“As a local authority we are responsible for ensuring the care and safety of individuals, families and communities, particularly those who may be vulnerable.
“We take this responsibility very seriously and we will work closely with all involved to make sure we carefully and thoroughly consider the recommendations in the report to jointly agree a way forward and a clear action plan.
“We are not able to comment on individual cases publicly but will make sure lessons are learned from the issues that have been highlighted.
“We are strongly committed to providing the best and most appropriate care and support. We continue to have confidence in our social work staff and will work with them to build trust with all our communities to achieve this.”

In line with the Council’s priority to ensure that care in Calderdale is inclusive, compassionate and enables everyone to live the fullest life possible, it is currently developing an action plan to respond to the issues raised in the ‘Buying Our Care: Experiences, Grievances and Hurdles’ report, and is committed to doing this in partnership with the community.

The Council’s response to the report is centred around three key steps:

Listening to the experiences of individuals and families, investigating their concerns and taking action to address each concern. This is happening now and is ongoing.
Learning lessons and looking in detail at what each Council service can do to respond to the report’s recommendations – as a partnership of services within the Council and working with the local community.
Gaining an independent view through the Council’s Scrutiny system. The Chairs of the Adults, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board and the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Board have met to discuss setting up a joint working group to review the report and use the lessons learned to make improvements to service provision.

ENDS

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the ‘Buying Our Care: Experiences, Grievances and Hurdles’ report by the Equal Care Co-op and Open Data Services

The report

How is the Council responding to this report?

We welcome the publication of this report and want to express our thanks to everyone involved for their time and willingness to contribute. We particularly want to thank those who have shared their own experiences and those of their family members. We want you to know that we have heard your voices and we acknowledge and appreciate that it has been difficult and distressing for you to share your stories.

As a local authority we are responsible for ensuring the care and safety of individuals, families and communities, particularly those who may be vulnerable. We take this responsibility very seriously and we will work closely with all involved to make sure we carefully and thoroughly consider the recommendations in the report to jointly agree a way forward and a clear action plan.

We are not able to comment on individual cases publicly but will make sure lessons are learned from the issues that have been highlighted.

We are strongly committed to providing the best and most appropriate care and support. We continue to have confidence in our social work staff and will work with them to build trust with all our communities to achieve this.

What happens next? How does the Council intend to work with the group?

In line with the Council’s priority to ensure that care in Calderdale is inclusive, compassionate and enables everyone to live the fullest life possible, the Council’s response to the ‘Buying Our Care: Experiences, Grievances and Hurdles’ report is centred around three key steps:

Listening to the experiences of individuals and families, investigating their concerns and taking action to address each concern. This is happening now and is ongoing.
Learning lessons and looking in detail at what each Council service can do to respond to the report’s recommendations – as a partnership of services within the Council and working with the local community.
Gaining an independent view through the Council’s Scrutiny system. The Chairs of the Adults, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board and the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Board have met to discuss setting up a joint working group to review the report and use the lessons learned to make improvements to service provision.

Social care

How does Calderdale ensure that care is compassionate and meets people’s needs?

Caring for our communities is one of the most important things we do. Kindness and compassion are the cornerstones of the Vision 2024 for Calderdale – the borough’s driving force. We have always prioritised social care as a Council, and as part of Calderdale Cares which launched in 2018 (a partnership between the Council, the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, local hospitals and the community and voluntary sector).

In June 2022, the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) replaced Clinical Commissioning Groups, which was a step forward in health and care organisations being much more connected as we work more closely together as one place, focusing on better access to care and emphasising public health and prevention of illness with a primary focus on improving outcomes for local people. There is a renewed focus on reducing health inequalities across the borough by delivering joined up, compassionate care.

Is equality a priority for social care?

The ongoing regional commitment to equality, shared by health and care organisations across West Yorkshire, was demonstrated in 2020 when the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership set up an independent review into the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities and support needed for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and staff.

The review sessions were chaired by Professor Dame Donna Kinnair, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, a leading figure in national health and care policy.

The Council played a part in this review, which aimed to increase understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities and staff, and review and accelerate existing work on health inequalities. The review findings are supporting the partnership to build a more effective health and care system which responds to these challenges better than before.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

How does the Council demonstrate its commitment to equality, equity and inclusion?

We care passionately about equality, diversity and inclusion. We are committed to building a fairer Calderdale where everyone can thrive and contribute. Calderdale is a place that values kindness and togetherness, and welcomes and celebrates the rich diversity of our communities. Reducing inequalities is one of the Council’s top three priorities and we do everything we can to provide equitable, inclusive and accessible services to help everyone across the borough to achieve their potential, whoever they are. This is a key part of the Vision 2024 for Calderdale, which is heavily based on being a kind place where everyone can live a larger life.

We have made significant progress in recent years to improve the way we respond to local community needs when developing policies and services. However, we know that some people may face additional barriers in accessing the services they need, so we have equalities objectives that help step up our work to understand individual needs and adapt the way we work, to give all local people equal and fair access to the services they’re entitled to.

We carry out Equality Impact Assessments on all of our new projects and services. This is where we carry out in-depth assessments exploring the opportunities and barriers, listening to and incorporating the needs and views of the people using our services. We also carry out public consultation and engagement to seek people’s feedback, and we hold mandatory equalities training for all our staff, inclusive recruitment campaigns and development programmes.

How is the Council and Calderdale tackling racism?

We are proud of our diverse and vibrant communities and strongly oppose any discrimination or racially motivated activity. Tackling inequality is at the heart of the Council’s Cabinet priorities and its Corporate Plan, which is driving the work of all services over the next two years.

Racism and hate crime are not tolerated in Calderdale. The borough’s Hate Crime Partnership, made up of several local organisations, meets regularly to identify any trends, ensure appropriate support is available for victims and to take appropriate action against perpetrators.

Council employees formed a staff Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network within the Council to ensure the voices of people from under-represented groups are heard and help shape policies and service delivery.

In 2021, the Council joined the Root Out Racism movement launched by West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership and the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit to affirm our commitment to tackling inequality.

Members of the BAME steering group work with services including Human Resources and Organisational Development to ensure actions identified in the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership plan are progressed.

As a Valley of Sanctuary, Calderdale has a strong network of organisations working together to create a welcoming and inclusive borough for everyone.

The national Heartstone’s Story Circle project in Calderdale schools is aimed at educating children and young people about prejudice and intolerance, including dealing with issues such as racism and generating positive discussion and debate.

How does the Council ensure that services are delivered in a way that respects cultural and religious sensitivities?

The Council has a duty to ensure that it fulfils its responsibilities for equality as an employer, a service provider and a commissioner.

The Council has a Corporate Equality Group, chaired by a Council Director, that is attended by nominated Equality Champions, each representing a directorate from across the Council. The role and responsibilities of the Equality Champion are identified in an agreed role profile and within the terms and references of the Corporate Equality Group.

Representatives from the Councils BAME, Disability and LGBT Staff Networks are invited to attend to provide insight on a wide range of challenges and interventions.

The group is supported by the Corporate Equalities Officer and the Cohesion and Equality Team who support management and officers in ensuring that the Council is fulfilling its equality duty.

Is the workforce, particularly in social care, representative of the community? What is the Council doing to ensure this?

We know that our workforce needs to be more representative and better reflect our diverse communities, and we are working towards this.

Through our commitment to being an inclusive employer, we want people from our diverse communities to bring new talent to our workforce and join us in making a difference to local people’s lives.

We have equality actions relating to addressing under-representation in terms of recruitment, retaining talent and progression.

Our recruitment training for staff includes content on equality, particularly unconscious bias, and our equality and diversity training for managers includes content on recruitment, retention and progression.

Equality, diversity and inclusion are a key part of our Workforce Strategy. Our ability to recruit, retain and develop a workforce that reflects our local communities is key to providing effective services.

The Council monitors compliance with policy and procedure through:

The Corporate Equality Group – oversight of action plans, challenges and good practice
Directorate Management Team meetings – signing off Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs)
Corporate Leadership Team updates via the corporate lead – strategic oversight
Cohesion and Equality Team – reviewing EIAs, responding to/assisting in complaints management, analysing statistics and information
Cabinet and Scrutiny Frameworks – review of annual equality progress reports and undertaking focused scrutiny
Partnership and external scrutiny – staff networks, Employee Reference Group and People’s Board
Standardisation processes
Complaints monitoring
Dignity and respect, grievance and disciplinary processes

The Equality Duty requires public bodies to set and publish equality objectives. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires all local authorities to show:

How activities as employers affect people who share different protected characteristics.
How the decisions made and the services delivered affect people who share different protected characteristics.

Six equality objectives have been reviewed and agreed by the Council to demonstrate how we intend to fulfil our equality duties.

The Council must publish information annually to show our compliance with the Equality Duty. We do this by publishing three reports:

What learning and development is provided to ensure that services and staff respect cultural sensitivities?

We have several training, learning and development opportunities in place for our staff, but we are looking to improve these further.

Equality training is mandatory for all Council employees and can be completed in person, virtually or by completing the e-learning. This training must be completed every three years.

Managers’ Essentials: Equality and Diversity – managers are asked to complete and repeat this every three years (or the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training).
Equality and diversity training has been offered to service areas for employees who do not have access to digital devices. This training is often developed to include awareness raising around specific issues. Copies of the Dignity at Work Policy and Code of Conduct are provided and referred to.
An accessible version of equality and diversity training is available.

Wider learning and development offer

The People Development Programme 2021- 2022 was scheduled to cover the following within its offer:

Calderdale Commitments – information on: Inclusive Employers Standardisation, Stonewall, Mindful Employer, Disability Confident.
Learning and Development – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Living Diversity Stories (led by internal staff networks).
We aim to offer a range of L&D awareness sessions to include neurodiversity, race awareness, trans awareness and deaf awareness.

Other forms of learning and development

The Disability Network is attending senior management team meetings across the Council to share and open conversations around disability, reasonable adjustments and the role of allies. It is intended to offer some open sessions for the wider workforce.

Does the Council have anything in place in its commissioning of services, which explicitly requires providers to be culturally sensitive when working with residents?

When we commission services, providers work to a service specification and develop individual support plans with the people they support. Service specifications set out the requirement to meet people’s cultural and religious preferences within the support they provide.

Service specifications are developed following engagement, and cultural sensitivity is built into the requirements. For example, the Supported Living specification says that:

“Providers will be as flexible as possible and ensure tenants have the opportunity to discuss their preferences and maintain their independence with regard to leisure and social activities and cultural interests; food, drinks, snacks, meals and meal times; routines of daily living; personal and social relationships; religious observance; and input into the running of the home.”

When a service has been commissioned, what checks are in place to ensure the service is delivering what’s required?

Quality monitoring takes place to ensure that services are checked against the service specifications and cultural and religious choices are explored and supported.

There is a dedicated Quality Team focused on services delivering personal care and support to adults in Calderdale. The team visits all care settings at least annually, and more frequently where concerns are identified. The team is increasingly focused on the experience and outcomes for individuals.

Commissioners also monitor services where there is no direct care delivery, such as information and advice services. They collect information, including equalities data, to measure the performance and reach of these services. Meetings are held with providers to discuss routine and specific contractual issues and action plans are put in place and monitored where required. We also hold planned reviews with individuals to ensure that services are meeting their needs.

Safeguarding

How do people report safeguarding concerns?

Safeguarding is everyone’s business and we all have a responsibility to look out for those around us, be able to recognise when something isn’t right and know how to report any concerns. The Council and other organisations are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable people get the support they need. There is always someone available to help, and a partnership of organisations is working intensively to prevent safeguarding issues in Calderdale.

If you are concerned about a child, please call MAST on 01422 393336.

If you need guidance or advice regarding an adult at risk, you can call Gateway to Care on 01422 393000.

Please visit https://safeguarding.calderdale.gov.uk for more information on how to get support and to report any safeguarding concerns.

If someone has a safeguarding concern, how does the Council respond?

We always take any issues raised with us seriously, and along with our partners, we do all we can to ensure that appropriate support is provided and people are protected from harm.

Calderdale has a Safeguarding Adults Board and a Safeguarding Children Partnership. These independent bodies are there to make sure that all organisations and people who work with adults or children at risk know what to do about situations that are causing or may cause them to be harmed. The Board and the Partnership aim for Calderdale to be a safe place to live for all residents, regardless of their circumstances, where their rights and freedoms are protected.