The Health and Adult Scrutiny Sub-Committee of Tower Hamlets Council met on Monday 7 September 2026 to discuss the Care Quality Commission (CQC) findings for adult social care, winter planning arrangements, and the committee's work programme. The committee noted the CQC's good rating for adult social care, discussed areas for improvement, and reviewed the NHS's winter planning for 2026-2027. They also agreed on amendments to the committee's work programme for the upcoming year.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) Findings for Adult Social Care

The committee received a presentation on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) findings for adult social care in Tower Hamlets, which resulted in an overall rating of good. Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Lead Member for Health and Adult Social Care, expressed pride in this achievement, highlighting the committed workforce, good leadership, and strong partnership working. The report noted strengths such as a dedicated workforce, visible and compassionate leadership, and effective partnership with voluntary, community, and faith sectors. Residents reported positive experiences of care, with their human rights being respected and protected. Safeguarding processes were found to work well, and support for unpaid carers was robust, with significantly more carers accessing support than the national average.

However, the report also identified areas for improvement, with two quality statements scoring requires improvement. These were care provision, integration and continuity, and safe pathways, systems and transitions. Specific points for focus included waits for annual reviews for equipment and occupational therapy assessments, the timing of transitions for young people moving from children's to adult services, and delays to fee uplifts impacting provider sustainability. The need to coordinate pathways for autistic people was also highlighted.

In response to these findings, officers outlined an improvement plan focusing on earlier assessments for transitions, updating the autism pathway strategy, strengthening governance and scrutiny, addressing market capacity and commissioning processes, and improving staff awareness of translation services. The committee was informed that the CQC inspection process itself is evolving, with a greater focus on ministerial priorities, more streamlined reporting, increased flexibility in engagement, better evidence gathering, longer site visits, and clearer communication.

Councillor Waheed Abdul Waheed raised concerns about residents' experiences and asked for measurable targets to improve services, particularly regarding initial assessments and occupational therapy. He also questioned the preparedness of the adult social care workforce, provision, and finances for a projected significant rise in the over-65 population. Officers acknowledged delays in assessments and the transition from children's to adult services, stating that recruitment of additional occupational therapists is underway and a 14-25 service is being considered. They also discussed the financial pressures and the need to do more with less, emphasising a focus on supporting the most vulnerable residents and ensuring value for money through rigorous reviews and panels.

Another member questioned the lack of numerical baselines, specific performance targets, completion dates, named accountable officers, and progress percentages in the improvement plan. Officers assured the committee that a plan exists for each area of improvement and that a continuous working plan with timeframes is in place, with a dedicated review team.

Councillor Mustaq Ahmed inquired about the council's readiness for the upcoming CQC changes, particularly the increased focus on residents' experiences. Officers expressed confidence in the team's preparedness, noting that they had already been working towards improvements before the last inspection. They acknowledged that the evolving framework requires ongoing learning and collaboration with other local authorities.

The committee agreed to note the CQC presentation and the response from Bridget Cameron, Interim Director for Commissioning in Adult Social Care.

NHS Winter Planning Arrangements 2026-2027

Jordan Oliver from NHS Inner Annual Integrated Care Board presented the winter planning arrangements for 2026-2027. The plan was developed collaboratively with partners including Barts, Elft, VCFS colleagues, PCN colleagues, and adult commissioning and social care. The plan is structured around core areas: neighbourhood health, community mental health access and admissions reduction, hospital flow and discharge management, intermediate care pathways, and post-discharge support.

Councillor Moustak Ahmed questioned the operational nature of the plan, noting the absence of demand forecasts, capacity figures, targets, workforce assumptions, funding, and named accountability. Jordan Oliver explained that the submitted plan was a high-level document for the Integrated Care Board and NHS England, acknowledging that more detailed local work is needed. He stated that while specific data projections can be difficult, they would look into providing more detailed data if helpful. Jo Fraser-Wise, Neighbourhood Development Director for Inner North East London, added that each partner also has its own winter plan, and the ICB plan is a collation of key themes. She confirmed that work is ongoing regarding dashboards and data provision.

Councillor Waheed Abdul Waheed enquired about vaccination preparations, particularly in light of historically low vaccination rates in Tower Hamlets. He asked about publicity efforts and collaboration with the Council and NHS to highlight the importance of winter vaccinations. Officers confirmed they are working closely with public health colleagues and the integrated care board on communication campaigns to publicise immunisation and vaccination access.

A question was raised about cross-departmental work with housing to ensure repairs are up-to-date before winter, including window security and long-term retrofitting. While housing was engaged in winter planning, the focus was more on homelessness. Officers committed to reflecting on how to work more practically and collaboratively with housing colleagues. The availability of warm hubs and the need for greater public awareness was also highlighted, with a suggestion for increased communications.

A follow-up question was asked about lessons learned from winter 2025-2026, specifically the three principal failures or pressures and what has changed as a result. Jo Fraser-Wise stated that while they don't have three specific failures readily available, a key strength identified was partnership working, and an area for improvement was governance and bringing people together. This has led to a commitment to more robust governance under the Urgent Care Working Group. The request for a post-winter evaluation report for 2025-2026 to be circulated to members was met with the explanation that such written reports are rarely produced these days, and the concept of winter planning is now more continuous. However, officers committed to picking up the evaluation as part of the ongoing process.

The committee agreed to note the presentation and that Jo Fraser-Wise would suggest dashboard information for the committee.

HSC Work Programme for 2026-2027

The committee reviewed the draft Health and Adult Scrutiny Sub-Committee work programme for 2026-2027. Julia, the scrutiny officer, explained that the draft was previously presented in July and would be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 22 September. Since July, discussions at a scrutiny workshop with officers and members have taken place, and topics have been collated and prioritised. Additional workshops with residents and community groups have also informed the programme.

Key changes to the work programme include the proposed inclusion of Adult Social Care Performance, Transformation, Commissioning and Savings Plan and ELFT Indicative Financial Savings from the unallocated list to specific meeting dates. Heat Health was also suggested by the Chair as a challenge session.

Councillor Amin Ali suggested adding Clean Air and the Impact on Breathing to the agenda, noting that it has been suggested for the Lead Member for Environment and Climate Emergency and may be a cross-cutting piece of work. Councillor Sabina Akhtar highlighted that GP Access and Women's Commission has been addressed and is included on the work plan, which she was happy to see.

The committee agreed to note the report and the amended work programme, and to request that the scrutiny officer develop a scoping paper for Health Head Health in liaison with key members and officers. They also agreed to any site visits. The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 2 November 2026.