Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Becket and Cllr Mrs Johnson.

To agree as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 9 April 2014

Resolved:     That the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as a correct record.

Declarations of interest were received from Cllr Loades and Cllr Mrs Hailstones.  

Resolved:     That the minutes be received and noted.

Attendance from:-

Dr Mark Shapley (Clinical Chair) North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group

Presentation by Marcus Warnes (Chief Operating Officer) North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.  Hand outs to be circulated prior to the meeting

The Chair welcomed Dr Mark Shapley and Marcus Warnes, Chief Operating Officer from the North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr Warnes in relation to Urgent Care and Emergency Care Primary Care for which a joint Strategy was currently being prepared with Stoke on Trent Clinical Commissioning Group.

The following points and issues were highlighted:

·       Issues with domiciliary care were not necessarily financial but more to do with the retention and employment of staff and their contracts (including areas such as unpaid travel time).

·       There were budget concerns regarding primary care – the budget for acute services had doubled but primary care had remained stationary.

·       There were issues across Staffordshire regarding meeting the 4 hour waiting time target.

·       There was an upward trend regarding A&E attendances (10.3% higher than planned). This was however a national problem. The main reasons for this included self-referral - 40% in contrast to only 6% of referrals being from GPs. Approximately 40% of referrals were also from the Ambulance Service.

The Committee questioned whether the part closure of the A&E department at Mid Staffordshire General Hospital had contributed to the increased demand at North Staffordshire. Mr Warnes stated that there had been some impact but that is was not huge. Mr Warnes stated that there had been approximately 25% increase in demand from outside of the area and that repatriation of these patients could take longer as they needed to be returned to a different area with a different operating system.

Members also raised concerns in relation to the out of hours services provided from 6pm onwards once most GP surgeries had closed and queried whether this was increasing demand at A&E. Mr Warnes stated that as so many patients skipped the visit to the GP anyway this was not thought to be a major contributing factor.

It was considered that one very important area that could be improved was the process in place at the hospital, if processes could be improved to ensure that up to half of patients were seen and discharged before 1pm then they would be able to go straight to the right after care service rather than having to wait another 24 hours in the A&E. It was confirmed that this was already being looked at and was starting to be put into action.

It was also stated that work was being done in relation to the possibility of GP surgeries being open 12 hours per day, 7 days a week but in order for this to happen funding in the region of 20 million pounds would be required. Funding on GP services had remained static since 2005.

The Committee discussed the possibility of educating the public to help make them aware that in many cases they may be seen by a highly qualified and experienced practice nurse rather than having to wait to see their GP. All were in agreement that the key to solving the problem was prevention and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

A verbal update to be given by the Head of Leisure and Cultural Services

Officers had spent a considerable amount of time working on the Strategy and Action Plan and ensuring that it worked alongside work being carried out by other statutory organisations and 3^rd sector groups. This had resulted in a huge data capture exercise which had led to a slight delay in the draft Strategy being prepared. A piece of work had also been carried out to help identify the impact that local authorities could have on health and wellbeing. Once the data had all been collated a report would be presented to Cabinet in September when the priority areas would be identified. It was thought that the main areas for work would be in relation to prevention and rehabilitation.

Resolved:     That the information be received and an update provided to a future meeting.

Minutes to be distributed after the meeting due to be held on Wednesday 2 July 2014

Resolved:     That the information be noted.

The Committee considered the report submitted by the Head of Business Improvement, Central Services and Partnerships.

Members considered the importance of public engagement and that the fact that the public seemed unaware of local authority involvement in health and thus the lack of feedback and engagement that occurred. Elected Members and local authorities needed to become more proactive to overcome this hurdle.

The Committee agreed that communication needed to be improved and that groups such as Locality Action Partnerships, Parish Councils and Residents Associations needed to be used more effectively to get information across to the public. An article could also be included in the Reporter Magazine on a regular basis.

Concerns were also raised regarding the low turnout at Accountability Sessions run by the County Council which again highlighted the need for a more proactive approach from elected Members and local authorities with more specificity regarding questions and outcomes desired.

It was agreed that an extra meeting be organised to consider the report on the Francis Enquiry in further detail.

Resolved:    That an additional meeting be arranged.

Any member of the public wishing to submit a question must serve two clear days’ notice, in writing, of any such question to the Borough Council.

No questions had been received from the public.

Cllr Becket would be attending the West Midlands Ambulance Service Accountability Session and had requested that any Members with questions please submit them to him.