Notes from the Homelessness consultation



Notes from Southend Homeless Action Network (SHAN) MeetingHeld at SCF’s Plaza Centre on Tuesday 8th November 2016Attendees (31): Gary Turner (HARP); Gill Garwood (HARP); Martin Ransom (SEAL); Insp. Bill Potter (Essex Police); Kelly Clarke (SBC); Glyn Halksworth (SBC, Drug and Alcohol Commissioner); Julie McEvoy (57 West & Deputy Manager at the Belle Vue Baptist Winter Night Shelter); David Yallop (57 West & a Street Pastor); Majzoub Ali; Jennie Smith (SBC, Housing Options Team); Fay Kricha (Family Mosaic); Peter Courtenay (Street Pastor and Deputy Manager at the Ferndale Baptist Winter Night Shelter); Steve Smith; John Paul Anastasiadis (SEPT); Paul Martin (SCF’s Isaiah Project); Paul Slennett (SoS Christian Bookshop and a Street Pastor); Trish Carpenter (Citizen’s Advice, SoS); Rev. Melanie Smith (CAST and Southend Foodbank); Simon Cross (Green Party); Jo Bates (Homeless Street Hub); Deborah ?? (Homeless Street Hub); Michael Morgan; Tina Aldridge (Storehouse); Rob Carvosso (Storehouse); Claire Gavaghan (SoS Adult & Community College); Del Thomas (Street Spirit & Manager at the Belle Vue Baptist Winter Night Shelter); Ross Hutsby (Street Spirit); Claire Massey (Street Spirit); Gill Close (DWP); John Simmons (Co-Ordinator, Southend Churches Winter Night Shelters) [Notes]; and John Barber (Chair, SHAN; & Manager at the Ferndale Baptist Winter Night Shelter). Apologies: Ron Wright (Chair of Trustees, SoS YMCA); Maria Medina (South Essex Homes); Seb Walley (Isaiah Project); Tracey Bale (Salvation Army) and Mara Chrystie (CAST).N.B. Action Points are in bold underlined italics.1. Welcome and Introductions.John B. welcomed all to the meeting and reminded all present about the “Rules of Engagement” for these meetings:- We are SHAN; we are about Southend; the Homeless; and Action; and are a Network of concerned people working to move the homeless onto a better place.We don’t discuss individual cases at the meetings, although anonymous examples can be given to make a point.We don’t have a go at each other for perceived shortcomings.He then thanked SCF for their hospitality.Please send all additions and amendments to the Contact List to John Barber asap.Everyone then briefly introduced themselves by name, role and organisation. 2. Minutes and Action Points from our last meeting (13/09/16).a) Minutes: The Minutes were accepted.b) Matters Arising: None.c) Some of the Action Points were covered by Agenda Items; those that aren’t were:-John Barber reminded us that the Rough Sleeper leaflet can be downloaded from .Updates are welcome - to him asap.Notes from Tracey Nicola’ Benefits Update presentation at the May meeting had been distributed with the minutes of the previous meeting. John B. reported that he had e-mailed Tracey to ask her about the answers to the two questions that were asked of her, but had not yet received a response. 17th July Meeting: Glyn Hawksworth reported that?? - sorry I don’t have notes about this!The on-line survey asking about any difficulties completing Immigration Forms:Trish Carpenter reported that it is still available; the digital system is still being trialled; and Citizens Advice are seeking funds to enable them to give more assistance to people completing the forms.Hospital Discharge Process:Majzoub Ali reported that about 25 people attended the meeting.A subsequent e-mail is at the end of these minutes.3. Police Update.John B. invited Insp. Bill Potter to give an update on the Police’s approach to the homeless and rough sleepers.Bill started by saying that the most vociferous conversations at most Local Police Meetings are about aggressive begging and street drinking especially in the Town Centre.There are even negative comments on the Easyjet website which can’t be good for Southend. He accepted that the police are having difficulties dealing with these issues. This is because since January the Community Police Teams have been moved into response units. Then, in May, they lost most of the PCSOs. This has meant that police have had to be moved out of the Town Centre.On the positive side, the Complex Needs Panel, the ?Homeless Group, and the ASBO Group all meet regularly; some of them are attended by some in this room. He would like to link Community Groups into that process.The Police want to support the genuine homeless by linking them to relevant Community Groups and so taking the pressure off the statutory groups.However, they will take action against the “not homeless” who are begging for profit by attempting to remove them back to their own homes.This approach will then hopefully release Police resources to counteract the drug dealers working in locations that cause problems to the police and/or working with people who cause problems to the police. The Police have issued 170 CPNs to aggressive beggars this year; these can easily be converted into CBOs which can include an exclusion from Southend.Bill would like to encourage Community Groups to share names and addresses of clients/guests.In response to questions, Bill said:-The police need information about the beggars so they can weed out the professional ones. These are fairly easy to identify because they leave their spots by 21:00 and often take money off the genuinely homeless. If people are worried about giving info. (e.g. names / locations / descriptions / even photos), then they can pass it to the Community Safety Partnership or the Police Station, and can be assured that the Police will never reveal the identities of informants. Details (especially names) can also be passed to housing providers who will check their tenancy lists.The Council do have a no busking policy; however, he didn’t expect that those busking will be punished with an ASBO.In December, the police will be trialling a change to how they deal with the Night Time Economy.There are two sides to the story as to why the man was forcibly removed from outside BHS; he couldn’t give details, but it was done for a very good reason. The official definition of “aggressive” is “behaviour causing alarm / distress / harassment” (The ASB Act).The general feeling was that a greater police presence in the Town Centre and a more sympathetic approach to the genuinely homeless would both be very welcome.?4. Homeless Reduction Bill.Del Thomas reported that about 80 MPs (but not our 2 local ones) attended the debate on the 2nd Reading (on 28/10/16); there were another 20 or 25 “on hand” in case it went to a vote.The Bill went through with Government support although it was unclear whether there would be any more new money.If it becomes law in it’s current form, it would:-Change the definition of homelessness (by forcing local authorities to take up to 56 days, instead of 28 days to help someone under threat of being made homeless);Change the process of dealing with Section 21 evictions; andChange the process of dealing with Section 184 evictions.Jennie Smith reported that 239 people (mostly families) asked the Council for homeless support last year, but only 133 Section 184 evictions took place.?5. HARP Update.John B. invited Gill Garwood to give an update on what HARP are doing.Gill started by saying that HARP don’t work in isolation; they rely on other people and organisations.In 2013, as Rough Sleeping seemed to be on a never ending upward trend, the HARP Trustees decided to aim at ending Rough Sleeping in Southend by 2018. This may seem like a crazy idea, but was better than trying to manage the flow.They see 600 people each year (about half are at risk, about half are sofa surfing and about 10% are rough sleeping).So they decided to get more resources to help them with support / accommodation / purpose.Year 1: opened the Bradbury Centre (with an 18 bed hostel) as a one-stop shop.Year 2: Opened Vera House (an 11 bed unit) using the Housing First model as short stay emergency accommodation for long-term rough sleepers trying to deal with underlying issues (drugs / alcohol / mental health problems). The first 11 residents have mostly moved on to less supported accommodation and are sustaining their tenancies; although 3 are still in Vera House.They are now in Year 3 and will be opening a women-only 18 bed hostel behind the Bradbury in February / March.They are dealing with approx. 600 as “flow” alongside the approx. 600 already known to them. Their strategy is to reduce the number in the latter group.So, in the last year they have seen approx. 1200 people; they were able to help about 1000, but that left about 200 they couldn’t help.Unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of affordable move on accommodation in Southend. Gary added that HARP were part of a national research programme (with SoS Council and Family Mosaic) where they are being bench-marked against Brighton and Blackpool.In response to questions, Gill said that:-The Council’s housing team deal with the eligible people, and HARP pick up the rest (e.g. single males).The aim of “ending rough sleeping by 2018” should not be seen as something that makes people think that resources are available to do that; so, they will not be tempering the statement with a proviso. They need the big ambition despite the cuts. Also, she didn’t think it was a contributory factor in persuading people to come to Southend. John B. thanked Gill for her update; he thought that HARP needed to be open with people. Many have read the aim and think all will be Ok when they approach HARP; he thought that HARP need to be more realistic.6. Homeless Landscape Mapping Exercise & Data Sharing Protocol.Peter Courtenay thanked all who had given feedback on the Landscape; more is welcome.He hoped to publish the next version by the end of November.It would feed into the Council’s Homeless Strategy; Glyn Hawksworth didn’t yet know the target date for that document. But he hadn’t received any responses to the Data Sharing Protocol!He recognises that some organisations need to go their head offices.He wondered if he should arrange a workshop to discuss it; please contact him if you would like to attend.Gary Turner thanked Peter for all his work; he observed that many organisations are already working together in a better way.7. SEAL (see ).John B. invited Martin Ransom to give a presentation about SEAL.Martin said that SEAL (The?South?East Alliance of Landlords, Agents & Residents) was a partnership whose members sign up to a Code of Conduct that promotes a good standard of accommodation, tackles anti-social behaviour and tidies the street scene.He said that Section 21 evictions are invoked for 3 reasons:-Rent arrears (can a payment plan be set up?);Anti-social behaviour (the Police and SMART team are involved); andThe property is being sold (or not available to rent anymore).They are usually ignored until the last minute (or tenants don’t understand them), but SEAL members are under an obligation to inform the Council as early as possible. Many Section 21s are actually withdrawn.Tenancy agreements now include an anti-social behaviour clause (similar to that included by South Essex Homes).SEAL have worked together with other agencies to develop the “My Street Southend” website as a community resource. However, they need more funding to establish it.They are also working with the Police on Operation Stonegate.Responding to a question asking about landlords who break the law, Martin said that they were probably not members of SEAL. He added that, if landlords are members of SEAL, it means the Council’s Private Sector Housing Team can spend more time dealing with bad landlords.8. The Southend Churches Winter Night Shelters. John Simmons reported that they were all set to go with 7 churches ready to host one night a week each from December 1st until March 29th. The venues are:-- Sunday: Avenue Baptist Church (Westcliff);- Monday: Leigh Road Baptist Church;- Tuesday: Shoebury and Thorpe Bay Baptist Church;- Wednesday: Belle Vue Baptist Church (Southchurch); - Thursday: Westcliff Free Church;- Friday: Ferndale Baptist Church (Southend); and- Saturday: United Methodist Church (at their Whittingham Avenue building).HARP will be allocating guests (20 maximum each night) to the shelters by using an agreed referral process. Therefore, potential guests should be asked to go to HARP’s Bradbury Centre (in York Road) before 2pm (Monday - Friday only). We please request that they are not directed to the individual shelters as there may not be room.Donations are always very welcome and will be used by the churches to buy food, personal necessities and clothes (e.g. toiletries, scarves, gloves, hats, socks, underwear, etc.), and to pay for the additional gas and electricity that they will be using over the winter.We also need volunteers at each host church:-for evening shifts (approx. 18:30 - 22:00);especially for overnight shifts (approx. 22:00 - 07:00); for breakfast shifts (approx. 06:00 - 08:00); andto cook evening meals (2 courses for approx. 30 guests and volunteers).If you can help or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact John Simmons (the Shelter Co-Ordinator) on 07866 740065 (09:00 - 23:00 only please), or by e-mail to john.simmons17ewb@ .9. Round the Room (Briefly!).Gary Turner (HARP) reported that the referral process for Church Night Shelters has changed slightly this winter so that guests are encouraged to engage with various agencies.Trish Carpenter (Citizens Advice, SoS) reported that the Energy Saving Network Champion (Sam Lea) is back with them and is now accepting referrals. Glyn Hawksworth (SBC) suggested inviting the Mental Health Commissioner to the January meeting to talk about the draft Mental Health Plan. John B. will do so.Jennie Smith (SBC) advised that the Rough Sleeper Count will be an estimate; the meeting will be on 17/11/16. Jean Paul Anastasiadis (SEPT) said that he was willing to work with anyone with Mental Health issues and that he also wants to work with other agencies.Paul Slennett (SCB) reported that Hope 3:16 has 3 houses (all for men); is getting a 4th, and also hopes to get a 5th (for women only).Rev. Melanie Smith (Southend Foodbank & CAST) reported that:-the Foodbank has dry pasta and baked beans available to the WNS (and anyone else who could use them); they also have kettle boxes available. CAST are seeing more people with NRPF; these are not traditionally homeless, but need rooms in houses especially over the winter.Simon Cross (Green Party) asked Martin Ransom about the number of empty homes in Southend. Martin didn’t know, but many landlords are asking about Section 21 evictions. Jo Bates (Homeless Street Hub) announced that Trevor Clift’s funeral was at 09:40 on 22/11/16. Also, they and HARP are running a shoebox appeal for the rough sleepers. Rob Carvosso (Storehouse) asked that we please contact him if we would like a tour of the Storehouse. Claire Gavaghan (SACC) said that the College are also supporting the shoebox appeal. She distributed leaflets about their Job Club.10. SHAN Meetings for 2017 will be on:- Tuesday 10th January; Tuesday 14th March; Tuesday 9th May; Tuesday 11th July; Tuesday 12th September; and Tuesday 14th November.All meetings are 11:00 - 12:45 at The Plaza Centre (600 Southchurch Road, SS1 2PT).The e-mail referred to at Item 2(c) above.From: "Worrall, Simon" <Simon.Worrall@southend.nhs.uk> Date: 21/10/2016 22:42 (GMT+00:00) To: majzoubbali@ Subject: discharge meeting ?Dear MajIt was very nice to meet you the other week. Thank you for your comments and also the written cases presented to me.In response to those written examples, they are of course regrettable. Whilst I cannot comment directly in relation to those cases, should those involved wish to pursue the matter further, the Trust has a complaints process which I would encourage individuals to pursue should they feel it appropriate.I cannot comment on the issue relating to transport however this was noted at the focus group and will be picked up as part of this work.The pharmacy issues raised are:1. Time taken to dispense discharge medication e.g. 6 hours2. Not returning medication to the patient which was removed on admission to the wardTime taken:Pharmacy has a target dispensing time of 90 minutes for discharge prescriptions. The department typically deals with approximately 75 discharge prescriptions per day (Monday-Friday). In the past, the department has struggled to meet the dispensing target on a consistent basis. However following a staffing review last year pharmacy has recruited additional pharmacy staff to support the wards and improve the flow of work within the dispensary. In the past month, the pharmacy ward support has been refined to further improve the service. Currently we achieve about 80% within the target time. The Trust now has an electronic prescribing system which our staff are using to direct their work and prioritise more effectively (e.g. new patients and discharges) and allows them to be on the wards more of the time and nearer the patient. By being ward based, we hope this will improve communication between doctors and nurses and pharmacy to minimise delays, and of course with patients to help optimise the patient experience. As we discussed with Bill, the communication between ward staff, pharmacy and of course the patient and their relatives / carers can be improved to provide greater clarity around the expectations of all involved. I hope that the increased ward presence will help this, however I will be feeding back to my staff.We know that sometimes, there can be delays between the doctors telling the patient and the discharge prescription being written, even before it goes to pharmacy. We are currently working on a proposal that allows pharmacists to join the doctors on the rounds and start preparing the discharge prescription as soon as the decision is made by the doctors (and ideally before where possible) to eliminate some of those delays.We also have a new team managing the dispensary and their focus is on improving the workflow and eliminating unnecessary delays. This includes appropriate escalation of problems to senior staff who can often make decisions that avoid longer delays.Our departmental performance indicators include measures around dispensing times for discharges although an average is taken - I will look at how we capture any incidences of excessively long breaches of the dispensing time so we can learn and avoid future occurrence where possible.Patient medicines:It's not clear whether this directly relates to pharmacy taking the medication from the patient or whether the medication went missing. However, assuming the former, we recognise that patient’s medication is the patient’s property and remains so during admission. Any removal of medication e.g. when it's stopped by the doctors, should always be done with the consent of the patient and an explanation given e.g. safety of the patient. I will remind my staff to discuss any such actions with the patient and document this.On occasions, medicines do not remain with the patient during ward transfers or even when moving between bays on the same ward. Whilst every effort is made by nursing staff to avoid this, it does occasionally occur. Again, with more pharmacy staff on the wards, we are better placed to support busy nursing staff to keep the correct medicines with the right patient.I hope this goes some way to explain some of the challenges faced and how we are trying to rectify the processes to ensure patient safety and experience are improved at discharge.If there are further queries please do not hesitate to contact me Best wishes, Simon (Deputy Clinical Lead Pharmacist) ................
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