Minutes for Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) meeting, Jan 26 2010, 6.30PM official page

The Chair welcomed Councillor Ibbs as a newly appointed Member to the Committee.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Barber, Fenton, D. Hardy, Howe & his Substitute, Councillor Mainey; Councillors McGinnity, McGuire and her Substitute, Councillor Blackburn; and Councillor Pearson; Kim Crowe, Executive Director of Service Development & Delivery, Mersey Care NHS Trust; Leigh Griffin, Chief Executive, NHS Sefton; and Paul Acres, Chair, NHS Sefton.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of interest were received:-

Member

Minute No.

Reason

Action

Councillor Hill

No. 80 – NHS Sefton - Update

Personal – his wife is employed by Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

Took part in consideration of the item and voted thereon;

Councillor Larkin

No. 83 -

Health and Social Care Directorate - The Quality of Independent Social Care in Sefton

No. 84 -

Annual Review of Performance for Adult Social Care

Personal – By virtue of him being a carer for his mother

Personal – By virtue of him being a carer for his mother

Took part in consideration of the item and voted thereon;

Took part in consideration of the item and voted thereon.

Minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2009.

RESOLVED:

That subject to Ian Ross, Sefton LINk, being added to the list of those present, the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

Further to Minute No. 68 of 15 December 2009, the Chair reported that Councillor Cummins, previous Councillor Fuel Poverty Champion, had relinquished this position and it remained vacant. No submissions of interest had been submitted from Members of this Committee and consequently, the position would be offered to all non-Executive Members of the Council.

Presentation to be made by John Cook, Chairman, North West Friends of Homeopathy.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr. J. Cook, Chairman, North West Friends of Homeopathy and Dr. H. Neilson on the history and use of homeopathy. The presentation outlined:-

• the law of similars;
• conventional practice;
• early problems;
• early results;
• homeopathic treatment;
• homeopathic remedies;
• the place of homeopathy in modern medicine;
• what complaints homeopathy can treat;
• other complaints;
• the results/evidence for homeopathy;
• clinical evidence produced by the British Medical Journal in the summer of 2007.

Both Mr. Cook and Dr. Neilson considered that patients within Sefton had been badly let down by the decision of NHS Sefton to withdraw its support for homeopathic treatment on the NHS in 2007, and that patients had not been consulted on the matter.

Members of the Committee raised a number of queries with regard to homeopathy.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       Mr. Cook and Dr. Neilson be thanked for their informative presentation;

(2)       NHS Sefton be requested to provide an explanation to the next meeting of this Committee as to why the decision was taken not to support homeopathictreatment, including why consultation was not undertaken and existing patients not given an explanation of the decision.

Report of the Chief Executive, Mersey Care NHS Trust.

The Committee had received a report from the Chief Executive, Mersey Care NHS Trust, providing an update on the following:-

(i)            TIME Project (Mersey Care Footprint);

(ii)            Service Developments:-

(a) Foundation Trust equivalent;

(b) Liverpool Implementer Site – SCIE Guidance;

(c) Step Down Facility;

(d) Central Lancashire; and

(e) Quality Accounts;

(iii)             Performance/Finance;

(iv) Outcome of Care Quality Commission Inspection – October 2009;

(v)            Estates Strategy;

(vi)            Revalidation – Strengthening Medical Proposal; and

(vii)             Recent Events Concerning Mersey Care NHS Trust.

No representatives of Mersey Care NHS Trust were present at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That consideration of the report be deferred until such time as representatives from Mersey Care NHS Trust attend the meeting.

Report of the Chief Executive, NHS Sefton.

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive, NHS Sefton, on current issues impacting on healthcare provision within Sefton. Information was provided on the following:-

A.            Adverse Weather Conditions

NHS Sefton had been working hard with its partners across the local health service to manage the impact on its services of the adverse weather conditions that Merseyside had experienced at the start of the year. Contingency planning across the health economy and with local authority partners had ensured that disruption was kept to a minimum. The additional efforts of staff when the snow and ice were at their worst, ensured that the majority of services continued to run smoothly.

B.            Supporting People to Stay Healthy and Well in 2010

Sefton residents had been reminded that there were various measures they could take to ensure they stayed warm and well during the winter period. Cold weather could lead to serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia and depression. Meanwhile, the Healthy Sefton service was helping people to keep their New Year’s resolutions. Healthy Sefton - 0300 100 1000 – gave callers access to services to support them to stop smoking, get active, manage their weight, drink sensibly and deal with stress or depression. Eligible callers to Healthy Sefton aged between 35 and 75 years old were also offered a free lifestyle check that included screening for heart disease and diabetes. 

C.        Swine Flu Vaccination Programme

Children across Merseyside, aged six months to five years, were the next group to be offered the swine flu vaccine. Evidence showed that the under fives were more vulnerable to the infection and while most cases were mild, they were the largest group that had needed hospital treatment. Parents of children under five would be contacted by their local NHS over forthcoming weeks to invite them to bring their children into clinics or to their GP practice for vaccination.

Members requested feedback regarding the take-up rate for the national vaccination programme against swine flu and reassurances for parents.

D.            Quality Update

Work had been underway over the previous 12 months to drive and improve quality across NHS Sefton. A formal update on quality had been received by the Board at its December workshop. Highlights of work completed and in progress included the following:-

·              The quality strategy for Sefton, ‘Because Quality Matters’, approved by the Board in March 2009, had outlined the key areas of focus across NHS Sefton;

·              The Quality Framework focused on three key dimensions - Patient Experience, Patient Safety and Effectiveness;

·              A Quality Board with wide membership across partners, including major providers, had been established to oversee the Quality Strategy. Examples of work underway with local providers had been showcased at this forum;

·              Quality contracts for all providers had been defined and bi-monthly meetings held;

·              A project was under way with a cohort of COPD patients to understand patient experience and this would complement the work with the four Providers; and

·              The responsibility for Serious Untoward Incidents had been transferred from NHS Northwest to NHS Sefton.

E.            Shoppers Test New ‘Looking Local’ Service

Shoppers had been invited to try out NHS Sefton’s new interactive digital information service – Looking Local – at three special launch events in the earlier part of January 2010. NHS staff demonstrated how the service worked to visitors of Marble Place shopping centre, Southport and The Strand, Bootle. Passers by were invited to try the service for themselves. Looking Local contained a wealth of health advice and information for Sefton residents and was accessible via TV, the Internet, or web-enabled mobile phones. It would also allow some people to book appointments at a number of participating GP practices. Looking Local was available on Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision, some interactive digi-boxes, as well as web-enabled mobiles and the Internet. Information on how to find NHS Sefton on Looking Local was provided within the report.

Members referred to the fact that there was just 1 walk-in centre in the south of the Borough and asked about the possibility of extended hours for the centre.

F.         New Year Honour

NHS Sefton employee, Donna Clark, had been awarded an MBE in the New Year honour’s list. Donna, an assistant practitioner with Community Health Service’s Podiatry Service, received the award for her services to healthcare.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       NHS Sefton be thanked for the report;

(2)            feedback regarding the take-up rate for the national vaccination programme against swine flu and reassurances for parents be provided at the next meeting;

(3)            feedback regarding the possibility of extended opening hours for the walk-in centre in the south of the Borough be provide at the next meeting; and

(4)               NHS Sefton’s actions against recommendations and proposals contained in the report, and reported verbally at the meeting, be monitored as appropriate.

Report of the Legal Director.

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director indicating that, in order to keep Overview and Scrutiny Members informed, it had previously been agreed to submit relevant Cabinet Member Reports to future meetings of Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

The most recent report from the Cabinet Member – Health and Social Care, submitted to the Cabinet on 17 December 2009, was attached to the report.

Members discussed health inequalities and life expectancies in the south of the Borough.

RESOLVED:            That the Cabinet Member report be accepted.

Report of the Legal Director.

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director indicating that there were no Key Decisions within the latest Forward Plan that fell under this Committee’s remit.

Councillor Webster reported on progress in relation to the Dementia Working Group, the last meeting of which took place on 8 January 2010, when Members received evidence from a member of the public who had a relative receiving care at home.

Members of the Working Group had identified a number of further individuals they wished to interview as part of the review and were minded to focus on the quality of care provided to dementia sufferers, together with the quality of training for providers of care. The next meeting of the Working Group was scheduled to be held on 5^th February 2010.

The Chair reported on the site visit to the Liverpool Women’s Hospital that had taken place on 15 January 2010.

Members were informed that the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board had recently established a cross-cutting Working Group, to scrutinise health inequalities within the Borough, membership comprised of the four O&S Chairs and developments would be reported back to the Committee in due course.

Members were also informed that, prior to Christmas 2009, the Centre for Public Scrutiny had invited local authorities to bid for Scrutiny Development Area status. The intention being to raise the profile of overview & scrutiny as a tool to promote community well-being and assist councils and their partners in addressing health inequalities within their local community.

Sefton Council had submitted a bid that had been successful. Funding for successful bids would attract a maximum of £5,000 for costs incurred over and above the usual scrutiny support that the local authority provides. In addition an expert advisor would also be placed with each of the successful pilots to help develop the review. Developments would be reported back to the Committee in due course.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the fact that there are no Key Decisions which fall under the remit of Health and Social Care within the latest Forward Plan be noted;

(2)       the progress and actions of the Dementia Working Group to date be supported;

(3)       the site visit to the Liverpool Women’s Hospital on 15 January 2010 be supported;

(4)       the establishment of a cross-cutting Working Group, to scrutinise health inequalities within the Borough, comprised of the four Overview & Scrutiny Chairs, be supported; and

(5)            Sefton’s successful bid to become a Scrutiny Development Area, to assist in addressing health inequalities within the local community, be recognised.

Further to Minute No. 56 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Health and Social Care of 20 January 2010, the Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Health and Social Care, apprising Members of the positive responses from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England, in relation to the quality of services commissioned for Sefton for funded service users in order to fulfil statutory requirements placed upon them and in general the quality of services procured that were monitored by a variety of methods.

The report indicated that the CQC had undertaken an assessment of Sefton’s Social Care Activity, and had used the assessment tool CRILL, Capturing Regulatory Information at a Local Level) for the first time, alongside LAMA, Local Area Market Analyser, which together would provide a rich source of information about the way in which the Council provided adult social care services, namely: commissioning and purchasing services; understanding the needs of people within their area; engagement with people in developing and shaping services; working effectively with partner agencies and making the most effective use of resources.

The CQC had concluded that there was only 1 “Poor” home, but there were 12 “Adequate”, 70 “Good” and 29 “Excellent” rated homes; that 12 remained to have their ratings announced, but local intelligence decreed that should standards be maintained, these homes would fall into the good or excellent category; and that following the report, the Council had agreed an action plan with the home classified as ‘Poor’, which had now improved its rating to ‘Adequate’.

A copy of the notification received by the Directorate in February 2009 was attached to the report as Appendix 1, and a detailed spreadsheet showing the ratings applied by the CQC for all homes in the Borough, was attached to the report as Appendix 2.

Both the Cabinet Member – Health and Social Care and Ian Ross, Sefton LINk, commented on the report, indicating that the results were overall very positive and that homes with lower star ratings were now seeking to make improvements.

RESOLVED:

That the report be received and any further developments on the matter be reported back to this Committee.

Further to Minute No. 55 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Health and Social Care of 20 January 2010, the Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Adult Social Care on the outcome of the Annual Performance Assessment by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and indicating that it was a requirement of the CQC that the Annual Performance Assessment Report was presented to a meeting of the Council; that unlike previous years there was no star rating, rather an aggregated score in relation to delivery of seven outcomes identified by the Department of Health, together with two additional domains.  The report also indicated the potential grading outcomes as follows:

(i)            Grading Outcomes

Performing excellently

Performing well

Performing adequately

Performing poorly

(ii)            Delivering outcomes

Improved health and well being: Well

 Improved quality of life: Well

Making a positive contribution: Well

Increased choice and control:  Well

Freedom from discrimination or harassment: Well

Economic well being :  Well

Maintaining personal dignity and respect: Well

(iii)            Domains

 Leadership

 Commissioning and Use of Resources

Annexes A, B, C and D of the report contained letters and reports from CQC in relation to the Annual Performance Assessment.

Councillor Larkin requested information on a strategy being developed regarding housing need for older people.

It was also reported that Sefton had received an excellent grading against safeguarding adults and that a report on this matter would be submitted to this Committee in due course.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the contents of the letter and report from CQC in relation to the Annual Performance Assessment for 2008-09 as set out in Annexes A-D to the report be accepted;

(2)            congratulations on the gradings awarded by the Care Quality Commission be extended to all members of staff concerned;

(3)       this Committee supports the Health and Social Care Directorate in its aim to become an excellent authority; and

(4)       this Committee notes that further work is required in the area of joint commissioning and that a report on this area from the Health and Social Care directorate and NHS Sefton would be welcomed.