Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 15 January 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters Arising

·         The Panel was advised that NHS England had recently given a presentation to the Health and Wellbeing Board concerning its responsibility for managing and commissioning the expansion of primary care.  The chairman undertook to discuss the matter further outside the meeting

·         The outstanding action from the previous meeting of the Panel concerning whether the labelling of prescribed drugs to show their cost will be applied to Bracknell and Ascot (in a manner similar to that occurring in West Berkshire) be pursued, by letter if necessary

There were no declarations of interest or any indications that Members would be participating under the party whip.

There were no urgent items of business.

There were no submissions under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

To receive a presentation from Jean O’Callaghan, Chief Executive of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, to include the Trust’s performance and role as landlord of the Bracknell Urgent Care Centre

The Chairman welcomed Jean O’Callaghan, Chief Executive of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust to the meeting to speak about the performance of the Trust and the Bracknell Urgent Care Centre. 

It was reported that the Trust’s governance structures had been reviewed and a new risk management framework developed.  The Board was now working to develop a long term strategy for the Trust.

Generally the Trust’s performance was improving and mortality rates were below the national average.  However, it had been found that the Eighteen Week Pathway Rules for monitoring waiting times were not being applied correctly and people were waiting for longer that they ought to have been.  An error that had resulted in the review of over 40,000 cases to ensure that patients were correctly placed on the pathway.  The correct reporting methodology was now being used and the Trust was compliant with two out of the three pathways monitored.  Compliance with the third pathway was expected by the end of July.

With 94.89% of the patients attending accident and emergency during quarter 2 receiving treatment within the target times set, the Trust was one of the best performing in the Thames Valley for accident and emergency waiting times.  However the target had been set at 95% and had consequently been missed.  The size of the Accident and Emergency unit was such that it was currently not able to cope with the demands placed on it and the target had also been missed in Quarter 3 and was expected to be missed again in Quarter 4.  To address this the Trust was exploring ways of expanding the footprint of their urgent care provision.

Other positive areas of note included:

·         The opening of a new £10million surgical facility

·         Positive returns from the staff survey particularly when compared to the staff survey out-turns from other Trusts

·         The Royal Berkshire Trust was considered to be one of the best heart attack treatment centres in the Country

·         Work was taking place with Reading University to develop a Physician’s Assistant Role.  This was a common role in North America where assistants provided a service that was approximately halfway between that of a nurse and a doctor

·         Work was also taking place to address capacity issues in the provision of maternity and ophthalmology services. 

The Trust’s current financial position was considered to be challenging and it was expected that there would be a budget deficit of between £6.7 and £8million by the end of the current financial year.  Further savings would have to be made in the next financial year and the situation would remain challenging.  To address this the Board was working to identify where savings might be made through improving processes and service efficiencies as well as exploring alternative ways of delivering services and improved partnership working.

There had been an increase in the number of incidents being reported.  This was not seen to be a negative because it meant that people were willing to report incidents and the data being collected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

The Panel received a report providing an update on the development of the Bracknell Forest Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the work taking place to refresh the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The Panel was informed that the Public Health Team had worked with both the Clinical Commissioning Group and other partner agencies to develop a comprehensive internet based JSNA that was both innovative and engaging with a monthly blog focussing on topical issues and an animated self care guide to provide advice on a range of common illnesses and conditions. Although the JSNA has been held up both locally and nationally as an example of good practice and has attracted a four fold increase in the number of visits made to the site over the past twelve months, the Public Health Team would continue to extend the scope of the site for example through the inclusion of new chapters relating to key topics including child sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation as well as exploring wider health limiting factors such as social exclusion.

The data provided in the JSNA would be used to inform the Joint Health and Well-Being Strategy which would set out areas of work that the Council, Clinical Commissioning Group and other partners would prioritise in relation to improving health and well-being in the Borough.

Work would take place over the coming months to map the activities taking place across the Borough to meet local needs and to identify any gaps.  This information would then be used to ensure that the Strategy’s priorities did not replicate the work already taking place elsewhere.  When selecting priorities there would be a focus on where a proposed priority’s impact would make the biggest difference to the health and wellbeing of the Borough’s residents.

The Panel was informed that following a review the Health and Wellbeing Board had agreed to expand its membership to include acute hospital trusts, and other service providers including the voluntary sector, housing and the Police.  The Board would also set up task and finish groups that would assume responsibility for the delivery of key work packages.

In the coming months, the Board would be developing its key priorities which would include provision of primary care services as well as a series of measurable objectives that would enable the Board to monitor its performance.   Although there would be no formal public consultation on the Board’s proposed priorities, partners would be asked to consult widely with their stakeholder groups as work progressed.

The Panel noted the update.

The Panel received and noted the sections of the Adult Social Care, Health and Housing Department’s Quarter 3 (October to December 2015) Quarterly Service report (QSR) relating to health.

The Panel was informed that the high number of people admitted to hospital over the Christmas and New Year period had placed a huge level of demand on all health services.  The problem had been a national one and whilst the additional funding from the Government’s Winter Pressures Fund had had some impact there were still capacity issues.

The Panel received a report providing an overview of the Panel’s activities over the past four years.

It was noted that a key piece of work for the Panel had been the scrutiny of the Francis Report arising from the review into the failings of the Mid-Staffordshire Hospital Trust and the subsequent analysis of the report’s implications for both the Borough’s health care providers and the Council’s scrutiny function.  The Panel’s work had highlighted a number of areas for improvement which were being taken forward by local hospital trusts and this area would continue to be kept under review going forward.

The Chairman thanked Panel members for all their hard work during the past four years.  Thanks were also expressed to the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing and all the officers for the work that they had done to support the Panel.

The Panel noted the forthcoming Executive Key and Non-key Decisions relating to health.

The next scheduled meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel will take place on 2 July 2015.

It was noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel would take place on 2 July 2015 at 7.30pm.