The Hounslow Council's Health and Adults Care Scrutiny Panel met on Tuesday, 9 September 2025, to discuss several topics, including patient involvement, pressures in adult social care, and the terms of reference for a deep dive into adult social care services. The panel was also scheduled to hear from patient and resident representatives.

Pressures in Adult Social Care

The panel was scheduled to continue its discussion from the informal meeting held on 24th June 2025 regarding pressures faced by adult social care services provided by the London Borough of Hounslow.

According to the meeting notes, the panel aimed to identify ways to reduce these pressures, acknowledging the existing robust contract management process. They were scheduled to consider whether the council could do more to address demographic factors influencing the need for services and how the new pilot health and social care integration pilot might impact service demand.

The panel had previously agreed to explore this topic throughout the municipal year but noted that further information would be needed to refine the panel's focus and develop the terms of reference.

As part of their research, the panel had planned to:

• Invite officers to provide information.
• Conduct quality assurance and case studies.
• Visit care homes, sheltered accommodation, and homes for people with learning disabilities.

Vid Calovski was scheduled to arrange a meeting with Ben Collins, the Programme Director for Integrated Care, to provide more information about the pilot program.

Patient and Resident Voices

The panel was scheduled to hear from Roger Smith of the Hounslow Borough Respiratory Support Group, and Barbara Benedek, a patient and carer representative in North West London.

Patient Involvement Best Practice

Vid Calovski was scheduled to give a presentation on patient involvement best practice.

Panel Deep Dive Terms of Reference

The panel was scheduled to discuss the terms of reference for their deep dive into adult social care services. The panel had previously identified the following:

Problem: What can be done to reduce the pressures which are faced by adult social care services provided by LBH? Acknowledging that the contract management process is robust, what else can be done to alleviate costs pressures? Can LBH do more to address the demographic factors which play into the need for services? How will the new pilot health and social care integration pilot be able to impact the demand for services?

Want to achieve: The members would like to be able to scrutinise the work of the new pilot programme but, would need more detail about what the project involves, how it would be developed and how residents would be supported.

Scope: Provide scrutiny of the implementation of the pilot project and how it will have an impact on alleviating pressures within adult social care.

Other Business

The agenda for the meeting of the Health and Adults Care Scrutiny Panel, held on Tuesday, 9 September 2025, also included:

• Chair's welcome and introduction.
• Apologies for absence, declarations of interest, and other communication, as outlined in the Monitoring Officer Declaring Interests note.
• Notes of the informal meeting held on 24th June 2025.
• Discussion on next steps, visits, and review of good practice.
• Any other matters that the Chair, Councillor Riaz Gull, considered urgent.
• Confirmation of the date of the next meeting as 3rd November at 7 pm.