Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllrs Birchley, Gomm and Walsh.

Cllr Chris Poll declared an interest in item 6 as South Central Ambulance Service were a lapsed client.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 3^rd February 2022 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd February 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

Cllr Julia Wassell added that she had sent her apologies for the last meeting.

The Chairman updated Members on the actions from the last meeting.

·       The response to the consultation around healthcare provision in Buckingham would be circulated;

·       The Chairman’s report around future identification of healthcare need and progression of adequate provision would be circulated for comment over the coming weeks’.

Public questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.

The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

There were no public questions for this meeting.

The Chairman explained that she had received Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s clinical strategy.  She suggested setting up a small group of HASC Members to review the strategy and circulate the response to all HASC Members.

Committee Members were asked to let the Chairman know if they were interested in being part of the working group.

Action: Committee Members

The Committee will hear from representatives from South Central Ambulance Service about the performance of the service against national standards, the impact of Covid, workforce challenges and the findings from the recent CQC report.

Presenters:

Mr M Begley, Head of Operations, Aylesbury Vale & Milton Keynes

Mr A Battye, Head of Operations, South Buckinghamshire & East Berkshire

Papers:

Overview report of the service

Powerpoint presentation

The Chairman welcomed Mr M Begley, Head of Operations (Aylesbury Vale & Milton Keynes) and Mr A Battye, Head of Operations (South Buckinghamshire & East Berkshire).

During their presentation, they made the following main points.

·       South Central Ambulance Service’s (SCAS) key areas of work – 999 service, NHS 111, delivering integrated urgent care in partnership with other providers.

·       SCAS also offers a range of commercial services – non-emergency patient transport service, logistics, first aid training, the national pandemic flu service as well as resilience and specialist operations.

·       SCAS worked in partnership with Air Ambulances, Community First Responders, Co-responders, Student responders and volunteer car drivers.

·       Longer-term service changes and developments, initiated in response to Covid-19, had become integrated in the strategic planning cycle.

·       The impact of Covid-19 included staff fatigue, mental health pressures, long lasting effects of witnessing upsetting scenes and the feeling of hopeless, particularly at the start of the pandemic.

·       SCAS had a clear strategy which promoted an integrated approach and focussed around enabling people to access the right care, first time; saving lives and improving outcomes and supporting people in their own homes.

·       Ambulance crews were given iPads to help work smarter.

·       The Blue Light hub in Milton Keynes was a great example of having all services under one roof which meant that communities received an enhanced service.

·       There were lots of contributory factors which impacted on handover delays, including seeing sicker patients, Hospital capacity and also some patients needed to be seen somewhere else.

·       There was recognition of the significant pressure on GPs and how the system was always looking to do things differently.

During the discussion, Members asked the following questions.

·       In response to a question about the challenges around recruitment and retention, Mr Battye explained that other areas of the health system were recruiting to similar roles.  The south of the county had the highest vacancy rates due, in part, to the high cost of living.  He went on to say that the salary was set nationally so people in Buckinghamshire were paid the equivalent to those in York, for example.  SCAS was looking to introduce incentives for working in Wycombe or South Bucks.  The need for key worker housing was acknowledged.

·       In order to bridge some of the current vacancies, private provision was being used but it was recognised that the longer-term plan would be to recruit people to SCAS and to reduce the reliance on private providers.

·       Buckinghamshire New University were currently offering a paramedic degree and efforts were being made to encourage the students to stay in the area on completing their degree.  It was noted that it took 5 years to train paramedics.

·       A Member asked whether SCAS were still using standby points in places like Princes Risborough.  Mr Begley confirmed that, due to increased demand, this policy was not always possible as ambulance crews were responding to calls on a continuous basis.  He went on to say that there was a critical care team based in Buckingham.

·       In response to a question  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

In 2018, the HASC Select Committee undertook an inquiry looking at the current support available for carers (both young and adult).  The inquiry report contained recommendations which spanned across a number of council service areas.  The progress in implementing the recommendations was monitored at a Committee meeting in 2019.

This item builds on the findings from the HASC inquiry and focusses on four key areas – Social Care, Carers Bucks, Education and the Council’s Carers Staff Network.

Presenters:

Cllr A Macpherson, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing

Ms E Quesada, Adult Social Care, Service Director

Papers:

Report with appendices

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Angela Macpherson, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing, Ms Jenny McAteer, Service Director, Quality, Performance and Standards and Ms Natalie Donhou-Morley, Senior Policy Officer (HR & OD).

The Chairman explained that the HASC Select Committee had undertaken an inquiry into what support was available for carers (both young and adult) in 2018 so this item was an opportunity to hear about the progress that had been made and to build on what the Committee had already heard.

During their presentation and in their written report, the following main points were made.

·       The Care Act required that all adult carers were entitled to receive an assessment of their care needs which could either be undertaken by the local authority or a commissioned delegated assessor.

·       The Local Authority were also required to make sure that carers had access to information, advice and guidance to support them in their role and ensure carers maintain their health and wellbeing.  Carers Bucks had been commissioned to deliver this to young and adult carers (funded by the Better Care Fund).

·       In order to plan future services, a transformation programme had been approved by the Adults Health and Wellbeing Board to review and improve carers support in Buckinghamshire.

·       There were currently around 15,000 registered carers in Buckinghamshire.

·       The pandemic had delayed the progress with this transformation programme and it was described as being at the beginning of the journey.

·       A number of events were planned across Buckinghamshire to help shape services for carers (Buckingham, Aylesbury, Amersham and Wycombe).

·       The aim was to co-design a sustainable, whole system approach for carers which focussed on better quality assessments and a review of short breaks.

·       There were currently around 15,000 registered carers.

·       A quality assurance framework was now in place which had let to improvements in some areas, for example, carers assessments had been simplified.  It was recognised that more needed to be done around access to carer information with the overall aim of creating a “One Stop Shop”.

·       A new online self-assessment process had been introduced.

·       There had been progress with carers contingency plans – this was now part of the social worker management process.

·       It was acknowledged that whilst there had been some progress, there was much more work to do around support for carers.

During discussion, Members asked the following questions.

·       A Member commented that adult carers could find themselves widowed which meant that they needed other support services, for example, making connections back into the community.  Ms McAteer responded that the current offer was not clear and that direct payments were not always the answer.  The forthcoming engagement events would explore these issues in more detail so that the future offer could be broadened and provide a more co-ordinated service for carers.  The events would also focus on addressing inequalities and exploring tailor-made, local services.

·       The Chairman asked whether the service had made links with the primary care social prescribers - a relatively new role which helps people make links with their local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee will receive an update on recent key projects for Healthwatch Bucks.

Presenter:

Ms Z McIntosh, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Bucks

Paper:

Update attached

Committee Members noted the update from Healthwatch Bucks.

For Committee Members to reflect on the work of the HASC Select Committee over the last year and discuss possible items for future meetings.

Presenters:

All Committee Members

Committee Members discussed possible items for the next meeting which would, hopefully, include the draft Primary Care Network Inquiry report.

This is the last meeting in this council year.  The proposed dates for future meetings will be agreed at full council in April 2022.

The proposed dates for future meetings would be agreed at the full council meeting in April 2022.