Issue - meetings

The Board had before it a report by Kenneth O’Brien (Service Manager, ACH&SCP) which provided delayed discharge information to support the scrutiny of the Partnership’s performance and to facilitate further discussion.

The report recommended:-

that the Board -

(a)  Note the Partnership’s current performance in relation to delayed discharges;

(b)  Note the current status and progress in relation to the Aberdeen City delayed discharge action plan;

(c)  Request further regular updates on delayed discharge performance and actions taken to further improve performance.

Kenneth O’Brien spoke to the report and advised that the report provided an update on delayed discharge performance and highlighted the status of the Aberdeen City’s Action Plan. Mr O’Brien explained that the overall trend for delayed discharges in Aberdeen City was downwards as Standard Delays had been reduced by 40% from July 2015 and Bed Days Occupied had decreased by 32% from April 2015. He also noted that Aberdeen’s relative performance in comparison to other Local Authority areas had improved from the second highest number of standard delayed discharges to fifth highest as at April 2016, but he noted that these figures had not been weighted to account for population size. Mr O’Brien highlighted that the Action Plan had recorded an increase in social care capacity which had led to a notable reduction in delays relating to social care assessment and had also documented an increase in interim bed capacity in the nursing home sector. He added that the feasibility study for the Social Care Campus project had concluded and a business case would now be developed.

The Board welcomed the improvement in performance but noted that there was still much work to do and they were not complacent about their performance. Thereafter there were questions on Aberdeen City’s Code 100 performance; and the delayed discharge methodology used by the Scottish Government and if it was robust enough to capture the impact of demographic change. The Chief Officer highlighted the Partnership’s medium-long term aspiration to eliminate delayed discharges by strengthening collaborative working between partners and by increasing the capacity of care at home and of community providers. Members also provided their experiences of delayed discharges from a medical, carer and performance management perspective and the Chair emphasised to the Board that it was important to recognise that there were people behind the statistics and members should always be mindful of this when considering the issue. The Board agreed with this sentiment and requested that a statement of intent be developed which would clearly outline the Board’s aspirations and approach towards tackling delayed discharges.

The Board resolved:-

(i)            to note the Partnership’s current performance in relation to delayed discharges;

(ii)           to note the current status and progress in relation to the Aberdeen City delayed discharge action plan;

(iii)         to request further regular updates on delayed discharge performance and actions taken to further improve performance and for this to include information on code 100 performance;

(iv)         to request that a statement of intent on delayed discharges and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7