Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Paul Spencer  Senior Democratic Services Officer

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Items
No. Item

1.

General

Additional documents:

1(1)

Apologies

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Kate Rolfe, replaced by Councillor Clive Rickhards, Councillor Chris Kettle (Stratford District Council) and Councillor Tracy Sheppard (Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council) replaced by Councillor June Tandy.

Shade Agboola, Director of Public Health

Vicky Castree, Coventry City Council

 

1(2)

Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Members are required to register their disclosable pecuniary interests within 28 days of their election of appointment to the Council. A member attending a meeting where a matter arises in which s/he has a disclosable pecuniary interest must (unless s/he has a dispensation):

 

·         Declare the interest if s/he has not already registered it

·         Not participate in any discussion or vote

·         Must leave the meeting room until the matter has been dealt with

·         Give written notice of any unregistered interest to the Monitoring Officer within 28 days of the meeting Non-pecuniary interests must still be declared in accordance with the Code of Conduct. These should be declared at the commencement of the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Jerry Roodhouse declared a non-pecuniary interest as a director of Healthwatch Warwickshire. Councillor Keith Kondakor declared a non-pecuniary interest as he was in discussions with a clinical commissioning CCG regarding the provision of a new doctor’s surgery in Weddington. Councillor Barker declared an interest due to her involvement in the league of friends supporting the development of the Ellen Badger Hospital.

 

1(3)

Chair’s Announcements

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair reported that a task and finish group (TFG) had been agreed at the last Chair and party spokesperson meeting. He invited Councillor Adkins to outline its purpose, being to look at health inequalities highlighted by Covid-19 and the impact especially in the north of Warwickshire. This TFG would comprise four members, Councillors Adkins, Bell, Kondakor and Roodhouse. The TFG would be asked to complete its review and report back to the Committee at its January 2021 meeting. Discussion took place about the TFG, covering the following areas:

·       Whether the TFG should consider the impact of health inequalities throughout the county, or whether this work was already or should be undertaken by the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB), to avoid potential duplication.

·       The remit was to look at Warwickshire overall, but to focus on issues in the north. It could commence with a presentation from the Director of Public Health (DPH), followed by lines of enquiry, The TFG needed a precise scope which would be assisted by the DPH.

·       Including a representative of the HWBB on the TFG.

·       Development of the new health and wellbeing strategy and its action plan. This could be informed by the work of the TFG providing a useful link.

·       Reference to the joint meeting of this committee and the Communities OSC on 25th November. A concern in regard to officer capacity, the need to be productive and to avoid duplication.

·        This group was focussed on the Covid-19 aspects of health inequalities.

 

The Chair referred to the ‘111 First’ initiative and had requested that a briefing be provided on this to the Committee’s November meeting. That meeting would also have a focus on mental health.

 

1(4)

Minutes of previous meetings pdf icon PDF 357 KB

To receive the minutes of the committee meetings held on 24th June & 23rd July and of the special meetings held on 30th July & 19th August 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings held on 24th June & 23rd July and of the special meetings held on 30th July & 19th August 2020 were approved as correct records.

2.

Public Speaking

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

3.

Questions to Portfolio Holders

Up to 30 minutes of the meeting is available for members of the Committee to put questions to the Portfolio Holder: Councillor Les Caborn (Adult Social Care and Health) on any matters relevant to the remit of this Committee.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Margaret Bell submitted a question to Councillor Les Caborn, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, expressing concerns that the private sector appeared to be ‘standing up’ routine health interventions more quickly than some NHS services. She gave examples of blood tests, dentistry and ear syringing to demonstrate this, asking who it could be pursued with to secure assurance.

 

Councillor Caborn responded that this was a matter for the Warwickshire North CCG. From his and other member contributions it was evident that the services commissioned varied across Warwickshire. There was no delay in blood tests in the south of the County; conversely there had not been an NHS ear syringing service for several years and patients in that area had to pay privately.

 

Nigel Minns offered to circulate a statement from NHS England about dentistry services. Dentists were prioritising patient safety, limiting the number of NHS appointments. The proportion of NHS and private work varied for each dentist practice and where NHS appointments were full, patients may be offered a private appointment. If there were issues at specific practices, these should be passed to himself, for referral to NHS England.

 

Other members shared their concerns regarding the delays in getting blood tests. Some people could not afford to pay for private dentistry. Further issues concerned patients in Nuneaton struggling to get GP appointments and being seen in the practice car park. The blood test delays had already been raised with the WNCCG. A suggestion that the CCG should be requested to attend a future meeting to report on the service variance, also urging the portfolio holder to pursue this. The Chair agreed to write to the CCG to raise these concerns.

4.

Progress in Restoration and Recovery of Services in Warwickshire pdf icon PDF 146 KB

A clinical commissioning group update on the restoration of services and proposals for developing a case for change regarding the potential relocation of neuro-rehabilitation beds.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Anna Hargrave, Chief Strategy Officer of South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) introduced this item. The report concerned the potential relocation of neuro-rehabilitation beds from University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) to South Warwickshire Foundation Trust’s (SWFT) Central England Rehabilitation Unit, located at Royal Leamington Spa Hospital. It also concerned the current temporary closure of the Stratford Minor Injuries Unit and Ellen Badger First Aid Centre, both being to support the response to COVID-19. The committee’s support was sought to develop a case for change and to consider the benefits of these service changes for the local population, prior to making a decision regarding the current arrangements.

 

It was confirmed that any service change proposals would be assessed to see if there was system-wide support, before a detailed case for change was prepared and subjected to engagement with patients, staff, the wider public and stakeholders.

 

The following questions and comments were submitted, with responses provided as indicated:

 

5.

Covid-19 Position and Recovery

A presentation to outline the Covid-19 recovery work and a briefing from the Director of Public Health on the position on Covid-19 in Warwickshire.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation from Nigel Minns, Strategic Director. The presentation gave an overview of the current position on Covid-19 in Warwickshire. The presentation included slides on the following areas:

 

  • Graphs showing the cumulative numbers of cases for both Warwickshire and the area covered by the West Midlands Combined Authority. It also provided data on the positive test results for each area. Context that the data earlier in the pandemic did not include community testing and this would have increased significantly the reported case numbers.
  • The cumulative and seven-day rates in terms of positive cases per 100,000 tests, broken down by district and borough area. Case numbers in Rugby and the increasing numbers in the Nuneaton and Bedworth area were referenced particularly.
  • Outbreak management, including the outbreak control plan and test and trace activity.
  • The Covid-19 recovery survey, which had received some 2,350 responses to date.
  • There were currently eighteen Covid-19 patients in hospitals in Coventry and Warwickshire, with four being in intensive care. This was significantly higher than recent weeks but was not at the levels seen earlier in the year.

 

Questions and comments were submitted, with responses provided as indicated:

 

6.

One Organisational Plan Quarterly Performance Progress Reports pdf icon PDF 341 KB

The One Organisational Plan reports will be submitted for the end of year 2019/20 and at quarter one of 2020/21.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The committee received two quarterly progress reports, which were supplemented by a presentation from Pete Sidgwick, Assistant Director for Adult Social Care.

 

The One Organisational Plan (OOP) Year-end performance report for the period April 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2020 was considered and approved by Cabinet on 9th July. The report provided an overview of progress of the key elements of the OOP, specifically in relation to performance against key business measures (KBMs), strategic risks and workforce management. A separate financial monitoring report for the period covering both the revenue and capital budgets, reserves and delivery of the savings plan was presented and considered at the Cabinet meeting held in June 2020.

 

A tailored report was provided for the services under the committee’s remit. This included strategic context and a performance commentary, assessed against the KBMs. Further detail was provided of remedial actions implemented in areas of lower performance. A financial commentary was also provided on the revenue budget, delivery of the 2017-20 savings plan and the capital programme.   

 

Questions and comments were invited. The focus on women smoking in pregnancy at the time of delivery was welcomed. In the north of Warwickshire, nearly one in five women smoked during pregnancy. It was understood that at GEH there was little focus on this area and targeted action was required at antenatal services.  Officers replied that the Public Health had targets for this area, which were being achieved at quarter one of the current monitoring period. This had been a focus at the recent Health and Wellbeing Board too, with a range of actions being agreed and that report would be shared with the committee.

 

Next, the committee considered the corresponding report for the period 1st April to 30th June 2020. This was considered and approved by Cabinet on 10th September 2020. The report provided the same information as shown for the year-end report. This also included the strategic context and a performance commentary, with details of the high-level outcomes within the Council Plan 2020-25, the monitoring of KBMs and the current position on the nine KBMs within the remit of the committee. Further detail was provided on performance of KBMs that was worthy of note and two areas which were not currently ‘on track’ at the end of quarter one. A financial commentary was also provided on the revenue budget, delivery of the savings plan and the capital programme.   

 

Questions and comments were submitted, with responses provided as indicated:

 

  • On the financial commentary there was a forecast £2m overspend for the disability service. There was likely to be increasing service demands for mental health services and associated costs.  There was an underspend of just under £2m on residential nursing, due to reduced demand in care homes. It was questioned if there were concerns for the future of the care market. In response, officers explained the difficulties in separating costs attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic from those which were increases in service demand.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 207 KB

To review the Committee’s work programme for 2020/21.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee reviewed its work programme. The Chair advised that the main focus for the November meeting would be on mental health, to include the Healthwatch survey of patient experience. The Coventry and Warwickshire Health & Care Partnership had been selected as an early implementer of a new national system via which the public would access NHS urgent and emergency care. He planned to discuss this further at the next meeting with party spokespeople, with a view to it being considered at the November committee.

 

The Chair invited district and borough co-optees to provide verbal updates on their work programmes. Councillor Bragg advised that Rugby BC had moved to a single overview and scrutiny committee and the use of task groups. Councillor Tandy reported on a special meeting of its overview and scrutiny committee focussed on the Covid-19 situation in the borough. 

 

Resolved

 

That the Committee notes its work programme.