Agenda and minutes

Councillor Hoptroff was substitute member for Councillor Price.

There were none.

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·         Other Interests

DECIDED – That the minutes of the meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 15 September 2021 be APPROVED as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

(To include a verbal update from Councillor Flunder – Staffordshire County Council Representative).

The Panel noted the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13 December 2021. 

Councillor Flunder explained that during this meeting, councillors received information around access to GP appointments, safeguarding of vulnerable people and the welfare of employees. A further update on General Practice Access would be included on the Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme in 6 months’ time. The Committee also considered Urgent and Emergency Care, Home Care, staff retention and capacity.

During the meeting of the Health & Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 31^st January 2022, it was agreed that representatives from Staffordshire Moorlands could meet to consider the interaction between the Leek, Biddulph and Cheadle areas in the development of the Integrated Care Hubs. Councillor Flunder would keep the Panel updated on this matter.

Members also discussed Integrated Care Boards and required clarification on how patients would be represented.

Any additional items to be added to the Work Programme:-

i)          Chairman’s items;

ii)         Members items;

Prior to the meeting, Councillor Cawley had requested that a piece of work on loneliness was included on the Work Programme. Although this topic was within the remit of the Community O&S Panel, he felt this should be reviewed by the Health Panel or as a joint piece of work with the Community Panel.

Councillor Flunder explained that he was involved with a mental health project in schools.

Members also requested that the Dementia Group be reconvened and for staff to receive the appropriate training. Councillor Swindlehurst had offered to cascade this training prior to the pandemic.

In relation to the performance of the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) in the Moorlands, Councillor Jones informed the Panel that he had approached a retired WMAS employee to interpret the data received via a Freedom of Information Request. Councillor Jones invited members to a briefing session at which the retired officer would present his analysis of this data.

Councillor Malyon also invited all councillors to a meeting she had arranged at Ipstones Parish Council at which a senior officer from the WMAS would be attendance.

Members were concerned about the length of time patients had waited for ambulances to arrive an gave accounts of recent examples of instances that had occurred in their wards.  

DECIDED:

That the Work Programmed be agreed, subject to, the following items being added:-

1)    Loneliness;

2)    Dementia Care.

(At least two clear days notice required, in writing, to the Proper Officer in accordance with Procedure Rule 15).

Q1.     Question received from Councillor Cawley:

“I was wondering if we have any information about the position regarding Health Visitors in the Staffs Moorlands since 2019? I understand that health visitors have had to prioritise their work in the period of lockdown and beyond. I was particularly interested to read over the last few years Health Visitors numbers have fallen in the UK by about a third. If this is replicated in the Moorlands I wondered about the implications for looked after children and vulnerable young people with reduced numbers of health visitors?”

Response from Councillor Bowen:

As the query refers to an aspect that does not directly relate to the work of the District Council, it would be difficult for me to respond to.  However, we have asked the responsible body for comment on this matter but have yet to receive a reply.

By way of supplementary questions, Cllr Cawley queried the remit of questions being asked of Portfolio Holders as detailed replies had been provided in the past. He disagreed that questions which related to the Health Service were not the responsibility of the District Council, however he understood that we had to retrieve the information from outside organisations.

Councillor Bowen agreed with Councillor Cawley’s sentiments in relation to Health Visitors. He had contacted a Health Visitor himself, referred to a Call to Action scheme, a Contact Hub and reduced funding and services.

Q2.     Question received from Councillor Atkins:

“When will the opening hours of the Minor Injuries Unit at Leek Moorlands Hospital return to their normal hours? Why are patients arriving before 5pm still being turned away by the walk in centre reception, without any medical assessment, despite assurances to the contrary?”

Response from Councillor Bowen:

Thank you for raising this important query which has been sent to the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Once I have received a response from the organisation, I will ensure it is sent to all members of this Panel.

Councillor Atkins expressed her concerns around the level of service offered by the Leek MIU. Despite previously being given assurance that patients would not be turned away, she had been contacted by two patients that had arrived at the Walk-in Centre at 16:40 with injuries. Apparently, they were not medically assessed and asked to go to the Haywood Hospital.

Issues around staff shortages, retention of staff and funding were appreciated by the councillor. A request was made for the Walk-in service to resume its opening times between the hours of 8am-8pm.

Councillor Bowen agreed with his colleague’s concerns.

Kurt Moxley - Head of Transformation, MPFT, advised that this case was being investigated as a complaint by the Trust and apologised for the level of service received by the patient. He gave assurance that he would follow this up within his organisation and report back to the Panel.

Josey Povey - Associate Director,  North Staffordshire Community Mental Health Services;

Kenny Liang - Executive Director of Nursing & Quality, North Staffordshire Combined Health Care NHS Trust;

Gail Edwards - Strategic Delivery Manager, Staffordshire County Council.

Josey Povey - Associate Director,  North Staffordshire Community Mental Health Services; Kenny Liang - Executive Director of Nursing & Quality, North Staffordshire Combined Health Care NHS Trust and Gail Edwards - Strategic Delivery Manager, Staffordshire County Council, were in attendance at the meeting following a request made by the Panel.

From the County Council’s perspective, a mental health recovery service had been recommissioned at John Hall Gardens which would be delivered countywide by the MPFT from April 2022. This replaced the previous jointly commissioned service delivered by Rethink.

In terms of the service offer, it would be based around individuals, their recovery and return to independence. Around eligibility, the services would be  for with people mental health issues or had a social care need. An assessment would have been carried out and a social worker involved.

The new service would be for a 2 year period and in 2023, the County Council would look to possibly recommission the service on joint basis.

The Kniveden Site was currently owned by the County Council, which hadn’t delivered services here for a while and the only services available were provided by North Staffordshire Combined Health care NHS Trust. It was the intention for the site to be marketed for sale in April 2022 and support had been offered in terms of relocation of services delivered by the provider to ensure continuity for service users.

Members sought clarity around the types of appropriate services which would be available to both new and existing clients. Kenny Liang - Executive Director of Nursing & Quality, responded and gave assurance that the Trust was committed to collectively provide mental health services from alternative sites in the area. Access to services would improve as there had been significant investment in mental health services within the NHS. Community and voluntary sector partnerships would be expanded within the Moorlands. 

The activities provided at Leek Town Football Club were queried, to which the Officers explained, this included access to sports, gardening and grounds maintenance. Existing clients of Kniveden had suggested these activities and would be supported in their transition by a member of staff from Kniveden. 

Although a number of social activities would still be available, some members felt that the new services were not comparable to the productive activities  which were provided in a safe environment at Kniveden.

Discussion also took place around a successful mental health centre in East London, the importance of community based mental health support, referral rates and the perceived reduction in mental health services over the years.

Around therapy being time limited, the 6 week sessions were welcomed but it was felt that this period of support was not enough of an incentive for clients to access the service.

To conclude, mental health services would continue to be provided and due to investment, services would be expanded. The Trust recognised the concerns of the existing Kniveden clients and were doing as much as possible to ease  anxieties during the transition period.

DECIDED: That the update be noted.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

Adam McKeown Operations Director – Planned Care/ Programme Director – Integrated Care Delivery and Kurt Moxley - Head of Transformation, Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Care Group Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Apologies were received from Adam McKeown - Operations Director – Planned Care/ Programme Director, MPFT.

The Panel received a presentation delivered by Kurt Moxley – Head of Transformation at the MPFT, which covered the following subject areas:-

·       Long term condition projections in people aged 65 years and older in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

·       Clinical Model

·       What is meant by Integrated Care

·       Access and clinical triage – approach

·       Key themes from informal engagement to date

·       Start of the Integrated Service Offer

·       Next Steps

The Panel debated effectiveness of integrated care, the importance of shared information/communication systems and limited effect of models to map change. Members were informed that this agenda forced organisations to begin to share finance, buildings, teams and strategies.

There were still a number of information systems within Staffordshire but advancements had been made towards integrated health records.

A councillor commented that the ‘Hubs and Spokes’ – were an inner core of the Integrated Care Plan, rather than the next step to hospital and highlighted the importance of working with the community and voluntary sector when designing the hubs.

With reference to communication, it was thought that this could be improved if the NHS could share information with community services. For example – following discharge from hospital, a voluntary group could provide meals/home visits etc. A member of the Panel suggested that shared access to patient records should be mandatory between the organisations.

Some members were sceptical that integrated care was feasible without integrated budgets and enquired about the positive changes that would be seen by patients from March this year. The Officer advised that initially patients would only be required to explain their condition once for the referrals to be made to the appropriate services. Long Term Condition Teams were planning to work together more effectively and work was being undertaken with voluntary services and social care. Round table discussions would be arranged to take place in March 2022.

The Integrated Care White Paper had been published today which may be of interest to this Panel when consideration was given to its Work Programme.

DECIDED: That the update be received.