Agenda item

Consideration was given to a draft Action Plan setting out how the agreed recommendations from the recently concluded review of Reablement Service would be implemented, including success measures and target dates for completion.  Presented by the SBC Strategic Development Manager (Adults & Health), it was stated that many of the proposed actions were wrapped up in the ongoing work being undertaken through the Council’s Powering Our Future (POF) programme, with specific attention drawn to the following:

·       Recommendation 2 (North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust (NTHFT) reviews its discharge processes to ensure that eligible individuals who are ready to leave hospital are made fully aware of local reablement provision and are referred to it upon discharge from hospital): Proposed work on discharge processes as part of a planned review of hospital discharge pathways would be key to the future promotion of, and access to, the local reablement offer.

·       Recommendation 7b (To increase public understanding of the Borough’s reablement offer, SBC undertakes a joint communications campaign (repeated on a periodic basis) with NTHFT and the VCSE sector around local reablement services, making it clear what they involve, how they are accessed (including contact details), and the principal benefits): An intended communications plan was being informed by the work of the local Making It Real Board (MIRB) which was helping obtain a clearer view of public feelings on the way services were / should be promoted.

·       Recommendation 8 (Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees be asked to consider facilitating a public survey in 2026 to establish the availability of information on the local reablement offer for those who had spent time in hospital and the experiences of those who had received support from the service): Recent conversations with Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees had confirmed a willingness for them to undertake work on assessing the local reablement offer in the coming year.

The Committee welcomed the inclusion of actions to address reablement-related issues involving North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust (NTHFT), particularly in relation to hospital discharge.  Confirmation was then sought, and subsequently given, on the identity of the referenced SBC Senior Communications Officer, and praise was offered to Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees for agreeing to support this post-review phase.  Regarding the latter, Members also called for the Council to ensure its own engagement with those who had received support from the Reablement Service so crucial feedback could be obtained from their viewpoint – officers acknowledged the need to better understand how services were impacting lives (not just the numbers using them).

Continuing the theme of pursuing views on service provision, the Committee highlighted those residents within the Borough who had family living elsewhere in the country and who were seeking information (often via the SBC website) on the local reablement offer, potentially comparing this to what was available where they were based – trying to obtain the wider family perspective on existing services was also encouraged.

In hospital discharge-related matters, Members again drew attention to Nuffield Health Tees Hospital in Norton, repeating previously relayed concerns about a lack of pre-hospital and pre-discharge checks.  The SBC Director of Adults, Health and Wellbeing agreed to follow this up.

The Committee approved the content of the Action Plan as presented and determined that the first update on progress of the agreed actions would be required in approximately six months (September 2026).

AGREED that the Action Plan in relation to the recently completed Scrutiny Review of Reablement Service be approved.