Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Oculus, Buckinghamshire Council, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury HP19 8FF. View directions

Contact: Liz Wheaton 

Media

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence/changes in membership

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Mordue, Birchley, Heap and Sandy. Cllr Nathan Thomas and Cllr Matthew Walsh were appointed as new Committee Members, replacing Cllr Mike Collins and Cllr Liz Walsh.

 

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman confirmed their appointment of Cllr Matthew Walsh as Vice-Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee for the ensuing year.

3.

Declarations of interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Wassell declared an interest in item 7 as she worked as a mental health social worker in the voluntary sector in High Wycombe.

4.

Minutes of previous meetings pdf icon PDF 453 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meetings from 24th March 2022 and 18th May 2022.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings held on Thursday 24th March 2022 and Wednesday 18th May 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

5.

Public Questions

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/

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

6.

Chairman's update

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman updated Members on the following:

 

·       The HASC Select Committee had submitted a response to this year's Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust annual quality account. The Chairman thanked Cllrs Heap and Wassell for their help in preparing the submission and all Committee Members for supporting and approving it.

·       A Member requested that the public should be made aware that the Committee wrote to the Swan practice in relation to the proposed Lace Hill development. The Chairman advised that some information had already been published but agreed to review this.

·       The inquiry report into the  development of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) across Buckinghamshire was currently being drafted. The Chairman thanked Members of the Inquiry Group and officers for their work on this inquiry. It is anticipated that the final report will be presented at the HASC Select Committee meeting in September for sign-off before going to Cabinet

·       Health Watch Bucks Annual Report Launch would be taking place on Thursday 21st July, in the Diamond Room at the Gateway. Committee Members were encouraged to attend the meeting to meet the new Chair of Healthwatch Bucks.

7.

Oxford Health Foundation Trust - Mental Health update pdf icon PDF 771 KB

Representatives from Oxford Health came before the Committee in September 2020 and a follow-up letter was sent to them focussing on areas of concerns.  This item provides Members with an opportunity to review these areas, as well as reviewing the current position of mental health services provided by Oxford Health Foundation Trust.

 

Presenters

Dr John Pimm, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Professional Lead Buckinghamshire Psychological Pathway and Head of Service IAPT

Dr Tina Malholtra, Consultant Psychiatrist, Clinical Director Buckinghamshire

Ms Donna Clarke, Service Director, Buckinghamshire

 

Paper

Report attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Dr Tina Malholtra, Consultant Psychiatrist & Clinical Director, Buckinghamshire; Dr John Pimm, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Professional Lead Buckinghamshire Psychological Pathway and Head of Service IAPT; and Donna Clarke, Service Director, Buckinghamshire, to the meeting.

 

During their presentation, the following key points were made:

 

·       Different services were  offered across Buckinghamshire: Urgent Care services, IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), community mental health services, and neurodevelopmental services.

·       These services were regularly evaluated by a team at the University of Plymouth.

·       The team offers assessments on a hybrid basis, with face-to-face and digital appointments. Some services had to be put on hold due to Covid. For example, effective diagnosis of memory impairments was not possible via digital means. This had led to discussions with  the commissioners around how to deliver  memory services in the future.

 

Buckinghamshire Urgent Care services

 

·       The service offered 24/7 support for people with mental health problems in urgent and worked closely with the triage service, the NHS 111 helpline, and the voluntary sector.

·       The service aimed to adhere to the model of crisis work, providing home treatment and avoiding hospital admissions where possible. Peer support workers have also been established.

The Covid-19 pandemic had been particularly challenging for patients in the Whiteleaf Centre in Aylesbury due to efforts in minimising infection.

 

IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies)

 

·       The service operates primarily on a self-referral basis.

·       The service hads increased over the past year (around 50%) and was expected to grow substantially over the next two years. Despite the challenges, the number of patients had increased by 25 %.

 

Community Mental Health Service

 

·       Many patients require more specialised care but do not meet the threshold for the most complex conditions. For example, patients may show some traits of personality disorders but not enough to receive a formal diagnosis. The community mental health service aims to fill this gap by integrating primary and secondary care through a gateway service, linking patients to the appropriate service for their conditions.

·       The best approach for these 'middle group' patients was often psychosocial, such as through talking therapies, social-based interventions, peer support, and engagement with others.

·       The service had not received any additional funding in recent years. However, new developments within the community mental health framework have shifted the focus to addressing severe and enduring mental illnesses.

·       The service had outcome data for over 95% of patients, which was unusual for mental health services. The recovery rate was significantly above the national target: Around 57% of people fully recover after treatment, with 69% showing a significant improvement, highlighting the success of both patients and professionals in the team.

·       Staff recruitment and retention were one of the main challenges. The team had tried to find innovative recruitment methods and some initiatives were detailed in the report. Since the pandemic, the response rate to advertisements had improved.

 

Neurodevelopmental services

 

·       Specialist team for neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). These conditions affected people's mental health and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System/Integrated Care Board pdf icon PDF 550 KB

From 1 July 2022, Integrated Care Systems will have legal status with new responsibilities and structures, including the Integrated Care Board and Integrated Care Partnership.  This item provides Committee Members with an opportunity to review the progress being made in establishing the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (BOB ICS).

 

Presenter

Ms Amanda Lyons, Interim Director Strategic Delivery & Partnerships, BOB ICS

 

Papers

Cover report

Powerpoint presentation

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Ms Amanda Lyons, Interim Director Strategic Delivery & Partnerships, Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB), to the meeting.

 

During her presentation, the following points were made:

 

·       The Integrated Care Board (ICB) was the statutory NHS body brought into effect on the 1st July 2022 which would see the abolition of the Clinical Commissioning Groups.

·       The staff across all the CCGs within the BOB footprint would transition into a single organisation.

·       The system delivery plan for the ICB and ICS was submitted to NHS England and sets out the formation and development of the ICB and ICS.

·       The NHS had postponed the requirement for delivering a digital strategy, which would provide an opportunity to liaise with Health and Wellbeing Boards before it is drafted. The Department of Health and Social Care would provide guidance on this on 18th July. An Interim Integrated Care Partnership Strategy would be produced by 31st December, followed by a five-year joint forward plan to which local authorities and health and wellbeing boards would have an opportunity to respond to.

 

During the discussion, Members asked the following questions:

 

·       A Member was interested in understanding how the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) ICS would benefit residents and how services would be improved as a result of being part of a bigger geographical footprint. Ms Lyons explained that one of the key benefits of the change would be the focus on the integration of health and social care. This allowed for health services to be looked at across a wider footprint, thus providing opportunities for additional funding.

·        A Member expressed concern about community health funding, particularly around supporting older people. Ms Lyons reassured the Committee around the benefits of integrated care and the overall aim was to work more efficiently with the available resources.

·        The Chairman noted that the Council needed to know more about health services would be delivered across the BOB ICS. The newly formed joint health scrutiny committee would be reviewing this across the system.

·        The Chairman encouraged further communication and regular discussions between the HASC Select Committee and the BOB ICS.

·        A Member expressed concern about residents struggling to receive doctor's appointments. They asked how the establishment of the BOB ICS would improve these issues, particularly in light of frequent re-organisation within the healthcare sector. Ms Lyons advised that establishing the place-based component of the ICB would ensure better links in primary care between the NHS and local authorities.

·       The Chairman noted that the Council's senior management team had raised concerns about the ICB, including the current proposal that only one local authority representative would be on the ICB. She went on to say that the five authorities were very different, and it felt very unrepresentative to have just one person. In addition, the Chairman asked what the local authority representation would be on the ICP. Ms Lyons reiterated that the ICB was a statutory NHS body which required representation from one local authority Member.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Healthwatch Bucks pdf icon PDF 134 KB

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

 

Presenter

Ms Z McIntosh, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Bucks

 

Paper

Update attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Ms Z McIntosh, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Bucks updated the Committee on the latestactivities and made the following main points:

 

·       Since the last HASC meeting, Healthwatch had published a cancer services report. This qualitative report detailed the experiences of 10 people using cancer services during Covid. BHT had issued a response, and a follow-up with them was scheduled for six months.

·       Ten interim view visits to community opportunity providers have been completed between October 2021 and March 2022. Buckinghamshire's Health Watch was the first in the country to restart those visits after the pandemic. Accounts of people's experiences of community opportunity services and strategic priorities for the next year were available on the HealthWatch Bucks website.

 

During the discussion, Members asked the following:

 

·       A Member asked whether any statistical data was available around mental health issues in homeless people and those in small accommodations. Ms McIntosh advised that HealthWatch Bucks would not hold this data but she suggested that a homeless charity or the council's housing team might hold it.

 

The Chairman thanked Ms McIntosh for her update.

10.

Work programme pdf icon PDF 405 KB

For Committee Members to discuss and agree the work programme for the forthcoming meetings.

 

Presenters

All Committee Members

 

Report

Draft work programme

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members discussed the work programme and agreed the following items for the September meeting:

 

·       System Winter Plan;

·       Agreeing the PCN inquiry report.

 

The following items will be examined outside of meetings:

 

·       Future healthcare planning - The Chairman suggested setting-up a small Member working group to re-examine a report which summarised the issues around healthcare planning in Bucks.

·       Access to services - Concerns around GP access, ambulance waiting times, and GP surgery services were raised. The Chairman suggested setting up an inquiry group to undertake an indepth look at this over the next few months.

·       A Member suggested a follow-up on the system-wide approach to obesity, which the Committee reviewed last year. The Chairman confirmed that this was on the work programme for early next year.

11.

Date of next meeting

The next meeting is due to take place on Thursday 22nd September 2022 at 10am.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting would be Thursday 22nd September 2022 at 10am.