Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda. A list of general personal interests previously declared are attached.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared further to the standing personal, non-prejudicial interests declared at previous meetings and circulated with the agenda.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2008.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 July 2008 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Friday 19 September 2008 at 5.00pm.

It was reported that there had been two registrations to speak at the meeting, under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme. The first was from John Yates on behalf of York Older People’s Assembly.

He congratulated Officers on their recording of the evidence presented at the informal evidence gathering session held at Priory Street on 1 September 2008. He referred to the vulnerability of dementia sufferers during the different stages of the illness, to them being less able to adapt to change and to problems they often encountered with diet and lack of personal care. He stated that admission to hospital would be considered a major change and that those patients without a partner, carer or advocate should be able to expect sympathetic treatment by hospital staff rather than the experiences presented in the report. He stated that it was important that all staff were well trained to enable them to deal sympathetically with dementia suffers.   He went on to point out that GP’s often did not know patient’s histories which made it difficult when there was a need for a hospital admission.

The second registration was from Di Keal of the Alzheimer’s Society who  had withdrawn her request to speak at the present time.

The Chair confirmed that the points made by the speaker would be noted when consideration was given to the preparation of the draft report.

To consider an interim progress report on the dementia scrutiny review in particular to an informal evidence gathering session held on 1 September 2008. During this session Members received evidence from carers of relatives with dementia and from various organisations details of which are set out in the report.

Members are asked to consider whether they need to gather further information before preparing the draft final report.

Consideration was given to the Interim Progress Report on the Dementia Review. In particular the Committee considered the information gathered at the informal session held at the Priory Street Centre on 1 September 2008. At that session Members had received evidence from carers of relatives with dementia and from representatives of the following organisations:

§         York Older People’s Assembly

§         Age Concern, York

§         Alzheimer’s Society

§         York Carer’s Forum

§         York Carer’s Centre

§         Epilepsy Action

§         York & District MIND

§         York LINk (Local Involvement Network)

§         City of York Council Social Services Department

§         North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (NYYPCT)

§         York Hospital

§         York Foundation Trust

The Chair stated that mention had been made at the session at the limited attendance of members of the Scrutiny Committee. He went on to confirm that the evidence recorded however did provide useful information for those not present.

Members then made the following comments:

• That the evidence showed that there was a clear need for early identification of patients suffering from dementia and that it highlighted a number of training issues;
• Noted that whilst evidence was collected from a wide range of representatives/organisations that similar themes had been identified;
• The triangle between patients, carers and staff was important;
• That a named nurse for each patient was essential;
• Reference to the proposals for a new scheme that would allow care workers to go into peoples homes immediately after discharge from hospital and the possibility of these workers assisting the patient in hospital between 9am and 5pm;
• Reference made to the Ambulance Service who had been unable to send a representative to the session and the need for their input as first point of contact with the patient after their GP;
• Concern that numbers of dementia suffers did not accept that they had any problems;
• Need to recognise the position of the carer or advocate balanced against patient choice and confidentiality;
• The views of front line staff on what would assist them in their dealings with dementia patients would be useful;
• Useful to consult with the Local Medical Committee (LMC) as to whether it would be possible to include in patient,s GP notes details of named carers to flag up this issue with all medical staff;

A representative of the Alzheimer’s Society stressed the importance of ensuring that all training was then implemented.

Following further discussion it was

RESOLVED:            (i) That the Ambulance Trust be invited to send a representative to the Committee’s 6 October meeting to provide details of their experiences when dealing with dementia sufferers;

(ii)               That, before the next meeting if possible, arrangements be made with Mike Proctor, Deputy Chief Executive of York Hospital, for the Chair and Councillors Ayre and Wiseman, together with any other Member of the Committee available, to visit the hospital to talk to front line members of staff on the issues surrounding dementia sufferers and the training requirements;

(iii)             That any questions Members wished raising at the above visit be sent to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Any other business which the Chair considers urgent under the  Local Government Act 1972

Arising out of consideration of the Committees work plan the Chair asked the Committee if they wished to make comment on the contents of the draft NHS Constitution. He explained that the NHS were consulting widely on the document and that comments were required by 17 October 2008. If Members wished to comment a report could be prepared for the Committee’s next meeting, with information circulated prior to this, to enable comments to be collated and returned prior to the closing date.

Annie Thompson, LinKs Co-ordinator, confirmed that they were to hold a Group information day on the contents of the NHS document to make people aware of their rights to choice and that this involved access to all.

A member also referred to the omission of a timeframe in the work plan in the work area ‘Dental Provision in York’ and for the need to pursue updates on this information. The Chair confirmed that Cllr Ayre and himself had met Amanda Brown from the NYYPCT regarding the information she had produced on dentists and waiting lists at the Committee’s last meeting.  He stated that she was examining the PCT’s reporting systems, which produced the information with a view to reporting back to the Committee. Requests had been made for the following information:

• how many patients were on the waiting list at any one time and
• how long patients stayed on the waiting list.

Following the report back Members would be able consider whether this was the best method of reporting and agree on the frequency that information was required.

RESOLVED:        (i) That a report be prepared for the next meeting on the NHS Constitution consultation to enable Members to decide whether they wish to make comments;

    (ii) The addition in the Committee’s work plan for 2008/09 of the word “Ongoing” in the Timeframe column against the work area ‘Dental Provision in York’

   (iii) That Officers pursue the update report on dental services from the NYYPCT for report back to the Committee.