Agenda item

The Chair reminded of the Board’s priorities and especially the focus on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The agenda included a number of important items around infants, children and young people. She also welcomed to the meeting foundation year two doctors and a trainee GP who were observing.

The Chair advised that West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) provided an update to the November 2021 meeting of the Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (ASC&HOSC). The reported ambulance response times were not as would be desired and there were contributing factors, with delays in transferring patients at hospitals being a key issue and some services not being available at all times. She then attended the multi-agency Blue Light Collaboration Joint Advisory Board to raise the concerns and ask how this systemic issue could be tackled. Support from both senior police and fire representatives was received to collaborate to address this concern. At the April ASC&HOSC WMAS provided a further update, reporting a worsening position on ambulance delays and response times. There was a need to look at this issue as a system. One of the roles of the Board was to ‘hold the ring’ and ask partners to work together to improve services. Whilst WMAS was a regional organisation, the local system could be focussed on issues for Coventry and Warwickshire. With the Board’s approval, Nigel Minns was asked to arrange a meeting of all relevant organisations to discuss this and to report back at the next Board meeting with potential options to improve the situation.

Several Board members spoke in support, making the following points:

• There was no blame, but a need for collaboration as a system to improve the current situation. 
• The discussion should include the impact on service provision of allocating 400 staff to provide cover for the Commonwealth Games.
• The need for more data around calls for service and categories, as well as the potential for more community-based work.
• A breakdown of response times for each area.
• Providing details of the treatment/support required e.g. patients with mental health issues. 
• The ‘return to normal’ for hospital appointments had not yet been achieved.
• Recognition of the efforts of all services and their staff in seeking to address the current challenges. These included patient flow and hospital discharge. The discussion should include what new things, including those which may be more radical could assist.
• The Chair recognised the work of acute trusts and also that hospital handover delays in Coventry and Warwickshire were less than for other parts of the region.

The Chair then referred to the health and wellbeing development session and the consensus for a focus on children and young people’s mental health. An action plan was being produced which included a proposal for a Children and Young People’s Partnership to be established, as a formal sub-group of the Board. It was proposed to submit an item to the next Board meeting, to consider the terms of reference and membership for this partnership. The Chair suggested that the group could include board members and officers. The board confirmed formally its approval to this proposal.

Finally, the next development session of the Board would take place in July with a focus on children and young people’s mental health.