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.

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. The following standing declarations were declared:

Councillor Kirk declared a standing declaration as a governor of York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Councillor Fraser declared a standing declaration as a governor of the York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and as a member of the retired section of Unison and TGWU.

Councillor Moore declared a standing declaration as his wife worked in the Health Service.

Councillor Wiseman declared a standing declaration as she was to be appointed as a governor of the York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2007.

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 Panel’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 2 November 2007 at 5pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation scheme.

This report introduces the Council’s Director of Housing & Adult Social Services, who will give a verbal update on the progress of the Local Area Agreement with regard to Healthier Communities, and the Primary Care Trust’s Associate Director of Public Health, who will talk about the work of the Healthy City Board and how it relates to the Local Strategic Partnership.

Members received a report which introduced the Council’s Director of Housing & Adult Social Services and the Primary Care Trust’s Associate Director of Public Health.

The Director of Housing and Adult Social Services gave a verbal update on the progress of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) with regard to Healthier Communities and the Older Peoples block. He highlighted that the Government had just published a new set of indicators and the Council had been asked to select 35 out of 198 indicators.

The Primary Care Trust’s Associate Director of Public Health, and Chair of the Healthy City Board, talked about the work of the Healthy City Board and how it related to the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). She highlighted that the Healthy City Board had been set up to deliver the healthy city element of the Community Strategy and reported to the LSP. She detailed the Board’s membership and the terms of reference for the Board.

Concerns were raised about the new indicators as not all of them had clear data sets and that behind each indicator were large action plans.

Members thanked the speakers and commented that they would be interested to hear which indicators were chosen and to receive feedback on what useful information was obtained.

RESOLVED:             That the contributions from the speakers be noted

REASON:                  In order to remain up to date on the health and well-being of the citizens of York.

This report introduces a representative of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, who will update Members on their plans and priorities for the next year.

Members received a report which introduced representatives of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), who updated Members on their plans and priorities for the next year.

Vince Larvin and Pete Summerfield from the YAS addressed the committee about their performance figures and the new Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) system that had been installed. They reported that prior to the installation of the CAD system, their performance figures were on target but these were now behind due to technical problems with the system and needing to take staff out of the control room to train them to use the new system. They stated that from April 2008, the national Category A (8 minute response time) performance target would be increased from 69% to 75%. Negotiations with the PCT had resulted in the PCT agreeing to fund three more rapid response teams to meet the 75% target. The YAS were also looking at other ways to achieve the new target including having three sites in York based at Yearsley Bridge, Acomb library and on Hull Road, motorcycle paramedics and paramedics on cycles, and mobile portacabins that could be moved as clusters change. The YAS were also tapping into partners in the community for assistance, including the Charlie Papa scheme which operated on a Friday and Saturday evening where a policeman travels with a paramedic who could provide treatment on site and therefore freeing up more ambulances on the streets and improving response times.

It was queried whether it would be possible for Members to visit the YAS to see the CAD system in action. It was reported that Members would be welcomed to visit the control room and listen in on phone calls once the new system was established and were also offered an invitation to do some observing in ambulances.

Members thanked the representatives from the YAS for addressing the committee.

RESOLVED:             (i)         That the contributions from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service be noted;

                                    (ii)        That the offer to visit the service in due course be accepted.

REASON:                  In order to remain up to date on the health and well-being of the citizens of York.

This report asks Members to confirm their work planning programme for the municipal year 2007/8.

Members received a report which asked Members to confirm their work planning programme for the municipal year 2007/8.

A draft work programme was attached at Annex A. Members were asked to decide whether to focus on any of the long term conditions detailed in Paragraph 7 of the report for their review of alternative care pathways to hospital in-patient treatment and to agree the eligibility criteria for Health Scrutiny reviews as detailed in paragraphs 17-18 of the report.

Members felt that points c and d under paragraph 2 were linked and that the Exception Panel should be the starting point before focussing on one or two alternative care pathways in order to assess what the Exception Panel was doing and how effective it was.

Members agreed that a review of the Exception Panel be carried out looking at how many applications there had been to the Exception Panel, how many were allowed through or referred elsewhere, and what support was offered to find alternative care. Members requested that Dr David Geddes from the PCT be invited to address the committee in January to provide an overview of the Exception Panel.

It was reported that there would also be an impact on referrals from GPs, who referred differently, and what happened to the people referred. Members requested that Dr Brian McGregor from the Local Medical Committee (LMC) be invited to attend the January meeting to discuss GP referral rates.

Cllr Kirk also requested that a report on the impact of the closure of maternity beds on York District Hospital be brought before the end of the municipal year.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Exception Panel be reviewed first before alternative care pathways are looked at;

(ii)               That Dr David Geddes, Medical Director for the PCT, update the Committee at the January meeting on the Exception Panel;

(iii)             That Dr Brian McGregor, Local Medical Committee, address the Committee  regarding GP referral rates at a future meeting; [As amended at the meeting on 3/12/07]

(iv)              That the work plan be updated to incorporate the above recommendations.

REASON:                  In order to carry out their duty to promote the health needs of the people they represent.