Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Janet Blake, Nigel Shepherd, Tony Green, Wendy Matthews and Tom Hunter-Watts.

The following changes in membership were confirmed:

·         David Carroll has been removed from the committee.

·         David Martin has been removed.

·         Patricia Birchley joined as a committee member.

·         Tom Hunter-Watts has joined the committee as a co-opted member for AVDC.

There were no interests declared.

Minutes of the meeting held on 26^th May 2015 to be confirmed as a correct record

The minutes of the meeting on the 26^th May 2015 were confirmed as a correct and accurate record subject to Julia Wassell being added as present at last meeting.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to put a question or raise an issue of concern, related to health.   Where possible, the relevant organisation to which the question/issue is directed will be present to give a verbal response.  The member of public will be invited to speak for up to four minutes on their issue.  A maximum of 30 minutes is set aside for the Public Questions slot in total (including responses and any Committee discussion). This may be extended with the Chairman’s discretion. 

For full guidance on Public Questions, including how to register a request to speak during this slot, please follow this link:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about-your-council/scrutiny/getting-involved/

There were no public questions.

The Chairman updated the committee on:

·         A recent site visit of the Chairman and Vice Chairman to the Whiteleaf Centre in Aylesbury, which was felt to be a very useful and informative visit to get a better understanding of the adult mental health services and facilities available in the area. The Chairman thanked Yvonne Taylor from Oxfordshire Health Trust and all the staff for facilitating such an excellent visit.

·         The Thames Valley Regional Scrutiny Chairman’s network meeting taking place on 7^th July which Buckinghamshire County Council are hosting.

·         A recent meeting with Healthwatch to discuss work programmes and current reviews and projects and identify ways of working together effectively. A workshop will be set up for Healthwatch and HASC members to consider approaches to sharing of information and setting some clear criteria for regular sharing of information between the two parties.

Julia Wassell updated the committee on support she has been offering stroke victims from Amersham and the issues they are facing regarding accommodation and timely access to occupational Heath Assessments in their homes once they are housed.

Julia raised a question that has arisen from this work she has carried out which is:

"Why is there such a long delay (in some recent cases, up to 7 months) for occupational therapist assessments of disability facilities?" Julia raised that at present survivors of strokes and other disabled people are unable to get the facilities they require in a timely fashion manner for a number of reasons:

·         Social housing may not be available

·         The occupational therapist service is not available promptly

·         Housing providers may not agree to fund or permit the adaptations required."

Attendees: Jane O’Grady, Director for Public Health

For Members to receive an overview update from the Public Health Directorate. Members will consider the key priorities and challenges for Public Health including the budget and how it is allocated and spent.

Jane O’Grady gave an overview presentation to the committee; SEE WEBCAST AND PAPERS FOR MORE DETAIL.

The following areas were discussed:

·         The public health priorities and how they are determined with a focus on those areas where the greatest return on investment can be achieved and the evidence base behind them.

·         The budget allocation, pressures and challenges, including the reasons behind Buckinghamshire being underfunded and the impact of this.

·         The importance of early year’s preventative health programmes (from before birth to 3-5 years).

·         Impact of public health activity on other council services – integration.

·         Extra budgetary pressures as a result of mandatory commitments.

·         Preventative programmes to encourage people live healthy and happy lives, a side effect will be less demand on social care and need for care homes and other programmes.

·         The importance and need for national support and leadership for preventative measures in order to deal with increasing demands and pressures and to encourage behavioural change.

·         Importance of sports and physical activities in early years and via schools.

·         School nursing services.

·         Tangible benefits of public health investment and return on investment in public health projects and programmes.

Attendees: Trevor Boyd, Managing Director for Communities, Health and Adult Social Care.

Members will receive an overview of the newly formed Business Unit for Communities, Health and Adult Social Care. They will consider the key priorities, activities, risks and challenges for the year ahead and have an opportunity to highlight possible areas of focus for the Committee.

Trevor Boyd provided members with a verbal overview of the key challenges and priorities for the Business Unit. SEE PAPERS AND WEBCAST FOR FULL DETAIL.

During the discussion the following areas were covered:

·         Integration of the previous three service areas under one business unit.

·         Financial challenges and pressures and implication of the growth in demand of the demographic.

·         Predicted budget gaps.

·         The opportunities for the business unit to operate and deliver services differently through exploring different delivery vehicles.

·         Impact of Care Act and increased responsibilities.

·         Work being carried out by a task and finish group to look at the base budget and budget gap. This work is nearly complete:

ACTION: Trevor Boyd to provide committee with update on the outcome of this work once it has been completed.

Coombe Lodge CQC inadequate rating Update

Trevor also provided the committee with an update on the Coombe Lodge Nursing home and recent CQC inspection rating of inadequate. He updated the committee on the inspection and improvement regime that had preceded this most recent CQC rating following ; the inspection activity carried out by the Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group and improvement plan that had taken place over the previous 18 months.

Questions raised by members concerned:

·         The reasons behind the time delay from safety concerns first being raised to action of removing residents took place very recently and whether or not the Council should have acted sooner.

·         The involvement of the Council, CCGs and CQC prior to the most recent CQC inspection.

See Webcast for full discussion.

Action: Trevor Boyd to provide the committee with an update by the end of July on the final outcome of the transfer of residents from Coombe Lodge. A written update should be sent to the Committee Chairman who will share with committee members.

The committee highlighted the topic of care homes. Members agreed they would like to look at care homes as part of their future work programme.

Attendees: Richard Corbett, Chief Executive of Health Watch Bucks

Members will receive an update from HealthWatch Bucks on the key findings of their Transport review and report recently published.

The report can be found at the following link:

http://www.healthwatchbucks.co.uk/healthwatch-bucks-report-identifies-major-problems-transport-hospitals

Janice Campbell from HealthWatch provided members with a verbal update on their recent review and report into transport to healthcare services.

SEE WEBCAST AND PAPERS FOR FULL DETAILS.

Members welcomed the report and the independence of the review in bringing together a number of key issues that have been raised previously and offered to help drive some of the key findings and recommendations highlighted within the report.

For Members to note the committee forward plan.

The Committee noted the work programme.

There has been a change of date for the next meeting. The meeting of the 15^th September has been moved to the 24^th September 2015, 13:00-16:00, in Mezzanine Room 2.

The next full webcast committee meeting will be on 24^th September at 13:00. This meeting replaces the one previously scheduled for the 15^th September.

There is also a special committee meeting being held on the 4^th August at 10:00 to agree the final Inquiry report for the 15 min visit inquiry.