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Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel 4th October 2023

12:58 pm, Thursday, 14th December 2023 - 5 months ago

Present:
Councillor Hudson (in the Chair)
Councillors Astbury, Croft, Morland (substitute for Haggis), Sandford, K. Swinburn and Wilson.

Officers in attendance:
• Paul Bassett (Assistant Director of Adult Social Services)
• Katie Brown (Director of Adult Services)
• Zoe Campbell (Senior Scrutiny and Committee Advisor)
• Diane Holton (Associate Director of Public Health)
• Helen Kenyon (Place Director, Integrated Care Board)
• Guy Lonsdale (Deputy Section 151 Officer)
• Eve Richardson-Smith (Service Manager – Consultancy, Law and Governance)
• Joanne Robinson (Assistant Director Policy, Strategy and Resources)

Also in attendance:
• Councillor Shreeve (Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care)
• Dr Kate Wood (Chief Clinical Officer – Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
• Ivan McConnell (Director of Strategic Development – Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospital)
• Linsay Cunningham (Associate Director of Communications and Engagement Humber Acute Services Programme)
• Anja Hazebroek (Executive Director of Comms, Marketing and Media Relations – Integrated Care Board)
• Anwer Qureshi (Clinical Lead Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust)

There were no members of the press and two members of public present at the meeting.


SPH.15 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received for this meeting from Councillors Haggis and McLean.

SPH.16 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest received in respect of any item on the agenda for this meeting.

SPH.17 MINUTES

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel meeting held on the 2nd August 2023 be agreed as an accurate record.

SPH.18 QUESTION TIME

There were no questions from members of the public for this panel meeting.

SPH.19 FORWARD PLAN

The panel received the current Forward Plan and members were asked to identify any items for examination by this Panel via the pre-decision call-in procedure.

RESOLVED – That the forward plan be noted.

SPH.20 TRACKING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF SCRUTINY

The panel received a report from the Statutory Scrutiny Officer tracking the recommendations previously made by this scrutiny panel, which was updated for reference at this meeting.

A member asked for an update on the Mental Capacity Act changes and how services were getting ready for these changes. Ms Brown confirmed the changes were on pause by central government and officers were working to current guidance.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

SPH.21 HUMBER ACUTE SERVICE REVIEW

The panel considered the Humber acute service review proposals that were out for consultation.

Members queried the digital flow of medical records under the new proposals. Mr McConnell explained that medical records were already shared across the trust and that the team were working on the digital flow between GPs, hospitals, and the ambulance service. Ms Kenyon explained the importance of promoting the NHS mobile phone app which gave the power back to individuals to own and share their medical information with professionals if it was not available through other means.

A member was concerned about patient transport and queried how it would work under the new proposals. Mr McConnell confirmed that there was a piece of work going on alongside the consultation that was looking at creating a solution through not only patient transport but other fleet options across the system. He also referred to a potential scheme to train people who were unemployed to learn to drive, be DBS checked and develop their skills to drive patients that required transport to their appointments using the other fleet options. It was suggested by a member that car parking be made free of charge for those carers and loved ones who would have to travel out of area to visit patients.

Concern was raised by a member that it could take up to 5 years for the proposals to be implemented. Mr McConnell explained that in years 1-3 they would look at capital infrastructure and the procurement. Staff rotas could be changed within 6 months. Mr Qureshi confirmed that if changes were not made, services may not meet the required standards and the proposal out for consultation would enable the standards to be met and maintained in the long term.

Members were keen to understand the implications on East Midlands Ambulance Service. Mr McConnell confirmed that work was carried out with the ambulance services to understand the impact and a detailed plan was being developed to ensure the smooth transition if the proposals were implemented. He also highlighted that if there were more trained paramedics to deal with category 3-5 cases on scene it reduce the need for hospitalisation and this was being considered.

A member suggested consulting on the proposals with residents at the newly refurbished Swann House on the West Marsh where there were several service user groups.

Members sought reassurance that throughout the consultation the impact assessment for children and the elderly were carefully considered. Mr Qureshi highlighted that the vast majority of elderly patients didn’t need to attend A&E and could be treated by other services locally so the impact would remain low. He confirmed that elderly patient provision would remain locally unless they needed to be treated by cardiology. He stressed that the outcomes for the elderly was better, where possible to keep in their own environment. For children, 80% of children could be treated the same day and go home. Specialist paediatrics would remain on both sites whilst maintaining valuable links to Sheffield Children’s hospital for specialist care if required.

A member asked if they could have the opportunity to observe the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) on a shift. Ms Kenyon confirmed it was and that action would be taken away from the meeting by Mrs Campbell to arrange.

RESOLVED –
  1. That the report be noted
  2. That it be considered as part of the consultation that car parking be made free for those carers and loved ones travelling out of area to other hospital sites.
  3. That members be given the opportunity to observe a shift with EMAS.

SPH.22 QUARTER ONE – COUNCIL PLAN RESOURCES AND FINANCE REPORT

The panel received a report from the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economy, Net Zero, Skills and Housing and Portfolio Holder for Finance, Resources and Assets providing key information and analysis of the Council’s position and performance April to June 2023.

Members queried why the wording was the same for each of the red, amber, green (RAG) rated status on the performance and delivery overview log. Members felt the wording should be individual for each service area. Ms Robinson explained that it was to ensure a consistent approach throughout the report and the detail was in the service areas section. Members felt there needed to be a key in the report to make it clearer for members of the public to understand. Ms Robinson agreed to take this action back to officers to implement.

Members were concerned that the council current overspend would affect the adult social care budget and they felt it was unfair on adult services that the public relied upon. Mr Lonsdale reassured members that the adult social care budget included funding that was to be used specifically for adult services.

The public health budget was queried, and members requested more detail. Mr Lonsdale confirmed that he would provide the panel with a briefing paper detailing a breakdown of the public health budget.

RESOLVED –

  1. That the report be noted.
  2. That a key be included within the report to explain each of the RAG status narrative.
  3. That the panel received a briefing paper detailing a breakdown of the public health budget.

SPH.23 AVAILABILITY OF DENTAL/ORAL HEALTH SERVICES

The panel received a verbal update on availability of dental/oral health services and the impact on residents not being able to access these services.

Members welcomed and were reassured by the approach being taken by the Integrated Care Board to work with dental practices to help them offer NHS appointments. They also heard about the number of different initiatives offered by Public Health to help encourage and improve dental oral health for children within schools, family hubs and dental practices.

RESOLVED – That the updated be noted.

SPH.24 QUESTIONS TO PORTFOLIO HOLDER

There were no questions for the portfolio holder at this meeting.

SPH.25 CALLING IN OF DECISIONS

There were no formal requests from Members of this panel to call in decisions taken at recent meetings of Cabinet.

There being no further business, the Chair declared the meeting closed at 6.10 p.m.