Agendas, Minutes and Reports

Minutes

of the Meeting of the

Housing, Health and Social

Care for Adults Policy and

Scrutiny Panel

Wednesday 8th June 2005

held at the Town Hall, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Meeting Commenced: 6.00 p.m. Meeting Concluded: 8:45 p.m.

Present: Councillors Peter Bryant, Colin Golland, Muriel Kraft (Vice-Chairman), Tom Leimdorfer, Ron Moon (Chairman), Hugh Parsons, Ann Harley, Roz Willis

Apologies for absence: Councillor Elizabeth Wells

Also in attendance: Councillor Isabel Cummings

HHS

Public Discussion (Standing Order SS09) (Agenda Item 2)

Mrs Dorothy Borbas made a statement to the Panel concerning the work of the Weston-super-Mare Osteoporosis Support Group, whose principal aim was to raise awareness of this debilitating disease.

She went on to tell the Panel that the Group had been fund raising for a DXA scanner for Weston General Hospital, which measured the density of bones. At present Bristol allocates one hundred scans per year to patients from Weston-super-Mare but with a higher than average elderly population the Group estimate that some 1,950 scans per year are needed.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Borbas for her address and invited her to stay for the meeting when points she had raised would be taken up in debate by Members of the Panel.

HHS

Minutes of the Meeting held on 6th April 2005 (Agenda Item 4.1)

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 6th April 2005 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

HHS

Presentation: Weston General Hospital Operational Plan for 2005 - 06 (Mark Gritten, Chief Executive Officer, W-s-M General Hospital) (Agenda Item 6)

Mark Gritten, the Chief Exexutive Officer for Weston Area Health Trust, thanked the Panel for the opportunity to provide an update on developments and changes planned for 2005 – 06. His presentation (a copy of which is filed on the Minute Book) gave an overview of the present situation and, although he was pleased to report that there had been a significant improvement in performance, it was disappointingly unlikely to be reflected in the Trust’s overall performance results/ “star rating” to be published in July. Mark Gritten further reported on the changes in emergency care and elective care, proposed improvements for dealing with out patients; plans for improving the efficiency of theatres and the introduction of measures to enable more efficient management Trust-wide. A lot was being done within notwithstanding the financial constraints.

In response to a questions Mark Gritten told the Panel :

(a) That a more focussed rehab strategy had been introduced in the Quantock rehabilitation ward now that the ten interim care beds had been removed.

(b) The current catchment population for Weston General Hospital was approximately 190,000.

(c) The waiting list for the audiology unit was currently about 15 months but the provision of an aid was not long afterwards. This problem was not unfortunately unique to Weston.

(d) The provision of DXA scanner at Weston General – The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) had concluded that use of the scanner was a cost effective way of reducing drug costs; however, currently, funding was available to provide 100 scans per year which are carried out in Bristol. To be cost effective 2,000 scans per year would be required.

(e) There was additional funding this year for sexual health, which would mean additional clinics thus reducing the need for many patients to travel to Bristol for treatment.

(f) The number of missed appointments had been reduced, depending upon which clinic, primarily by the introduction of the appointment centre where staff telephoned patients to see if the appointment was suitable and an assessment as to whether the patient was fit enough for operation.

(g) There had been good progress with the development of children’s health and mental health provision and the Trust was on target to undertake conversation of the paediactric ward by summer 2006.

(h) Ward cleanliness at weekends – this was mainly as a result of staff vacancies and a high turnover in staff as it was one of the hardest environements in which to work. Some additional funding had been provided for extra cleaners this year.

(i) By December 2005 a website will be available to give information on all hospitals as to the length of wait between consultation and surgery thereby assisting patients to choose from up to five providers where they would like consultation, and following the results, which Trust would they choose for the procedure.

The Chairman thanked Mark Gritten for his informative presentation.

HHS

Presentation of the Chief Executive Officer, North Somerset Primary Care Trust – Out of Hours Contract (Agenda Item 7)

The Chairman welcomed Katie Norton, Chief Executive Officer of North Somerset Primary Care Trust, to the meeting and congratulated her on her appointment. She had been in post six weeks.

Her presentation set out the backaground to the Contract, detailed the current service model used North Somerset, performance analysis and plans for the future development of the service. Access to the service was via telephone triage provided by NHS Direct (NHSD). A great improvement had been seen following the recruitment of additional staff by NHSD. She told the Panel that funding from Central Government was significantly less than the cost of the contract which in turn led to less investment available from the Trust.

In response to questions, Katie Norton told the Panel:

(a) that there were very few locum doctors supporting the contract; the vast majority were full-time professionals working within the community that promoted a climate of collective ownership. Patient’s clinical records were not accessable by the Out of Hours providers but they did have access to some of the core databases.

(b) There was a shortage of General Practitioners (GPs). GPs were historically involved with the provision of out of hours care, and they still are but differently funded.

She went on to outline her personal perspective on future priorities both short term and long term. There was a need to establish a clear strategic vision for health and health care services, and to improve communication and partnership working within the PCT and with stakeholders. She feIt it was also important that a three-year financial and service plan be developed. There would be expected growth over the next three years but it would be necessary to find ways of spending £2 to £3 million less each year,out of the total budget of approximately £180 million, to repay borowings.

Katie Norton went on to answer questions from the panel concerning :

1. The proposed refurbishment of Clevedon Hospital and the arrangements in place for patients during the refurbishment.

2. A new appointment had been made to lead on communication and public involvement.

3. The lack of NHS dentists; this was a national issue and could be the subject of a more detailed presentaton.

4. The Bristol Hospital Plan and input by North Somerset PCT, especially Portishead Medical Centre. A major event was to be held in early July to map out where and how services were to be developed in future, how the PCT infrastructure needed to be developed and what services would be needed in Portishead. Invitations had been sent to stakeholders and Members and officers of North Somerset Council woud be invited to join in.

The Chairman thanked Katie Norton for her presentation and wished her success with the challenges and opportunities which lay ahead.

HHS

Presentation: Patient Advice and Liaison Service (Suzie Heller, PALS Service Manager)

The Chairman welcomed Suzie Heller who gave an oral report on the work of PALS which aimed to give an unbeaurocratic and easy access route for for patients’ concerns and complaints. She anticipated being able to give regular reports to inform members of emerging trends and various issues of local concern (for example the difficulties in registering with a GP and getting an appointment, changes to podiatry services). PALS would be able to give more realistic assessment of the issues.

A programme of customer care training for front line staff was in place to enable them to deal with problems and issues more responsively. PALS had also started an expert patient programme enabling patients with long-term problems to be made aware and make the most of what help was available (for example how better to manage pain; how to live with a chronic condition).

Suzie Heller answered questions and confirmed that with the advent of administrative support she would be able to provide more practical support, to the extent of being able to attend an appointment with a patient if requested. The intention was to make PALS the first port of call, that information can be given and that there should always be someone available to deal with queries immediately they arise. It was intended to redraft the leaflet provided and to ensure that information was available on the website which was easily read.

The Chairman thanked Suzie Heller for her presentation and looked forward to future updates.

HHS

Work Plan (Agenda Item 9)

The representative of the Head of Scrutiny and Performance made a short oral presentation to remind members of the need to evaluate items for inclusion on the Work Plan against key principles. Members discussed the draft Work Plan and agreed the need to prioritise the heavy workload.

Concluded: that the draft work plan be adopted with the addition of Community Mental Health and Dentistry under ongoing topics.

HHS

Report of the Executive Member for Housing (Agenda Item 10.1)

The Executive Member for Housing gave the detail to her report and responded to questions from the Panel. Regarding the housing transfer she confirmed that any parcels of land identifed, if part of the estate to be transferred, would very likely be transferred along with the properties to the housing association and would contain a condition that any such plots could only be used for affordable housing development.

HHS

Report of the Executive Member for Social Care (Agenda Item 10.2)

Concluded: that in the absence of the Executive Member for Social Care, the report be deferred.

HHS

Update on Ambulance Review in Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire (Agenda Item 10.3)

Members noted the progress of the Review being underaken by Avon, Gloucestershire ad Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority in partnership with the three Ambulance Trusts and the commissioning Primary Care Trusts across the region. Members considered that the matter was best dealt with by way of a joint committee approach.

In response to comments made, and at the invitation of the Chairman, Mark Gritten Chief Executive Officer of the Weston Area Health Trust, referred to the merged service operating in Devon and Cornwall that had targets to monitor the response times as a result of organisational change. He did not believe the recommended creation of a single ambulance trust would mean a reduction in quality of service. Katie Norton, Chief Executive Officer for North Somerset Primary Care Trust, endorsed his comment and added that that North Somerset would gain all of the benefits whilst retaining local relationships to make sure the service responded to local needs.

Concluded: that the report be noted.

________________________________

Chairman

________________________________