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 22 September 2008.

RESOLVED:             That the minute of the meeting of the Committee held on 22 September 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 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 3October at 5.00pm.

It was reported that there had been one registration from John Yates to speak at the meeting, under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

John referred to the response received from the Director of YOR Local Medical Council Limited in relation to the comments he had made, at an earlier meeting, that family General Practitioners no longer existed and that GP’s were often unaware of a person’s history. He went on to clarify his comments by stating that he felt that these days GP’s were less likely to be aware of a patient’s background with only 10 minute appointment slots.

He also referred to the consultation now being undertaken on the NHS Constitution, which it was reported would cover all sections of the community. He stated that he hoped that this would be a two-way dialogue as GP’s needed to be aware of what the public wanted prior to the Constitution being finalised.

The Chair confirmed that the points raised by the speaker would be noted when consideration was given to the draft final report. 

To consider an interim progress report on the dementia scrutiny review.

Consideration was given to the Interim Progress Report on the Dementia Review, in particular to the information gathered at the formal meeting held on 1 September and from the informal evidence gathering session on 22 September 2008, together with the issues arising.

The Chair referred to the informal evidence gathering session when Members had identified several issues that needed further exploration. At that time it had been decided to address these by consulting and receiving evidence from the following:

(a)   Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS)  - A representative had been invited to attend the meeting to present their experiences in relation to dementia patients accessing secondary care.

Mike Wright, the Locality Manager from YAS, thanked the Committee for the opportunity to contribute to the review. He stated that, ambulance personnel, as usually the patient’s first line of contact after the GP, received very little guidance in relation to patients that were affected by dementia.

He stated that when responding to 999 ambulance calls personnel were often unaware of what type of call they were attending as only basic information had been obtained. Crews analysed each case and situation on arrival but they were trained to obtain as much information from those at the scene as possible, which included relatives and carers. He confirmed that ambulance personnel did not receive specific training on dementia but that with information received they also had to be aware of potential abuse cases. He stated that staff were trained on the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the new Safeguarding Adults policy, which would be ratified shortly by the Trust Board. He confirmed that crews were instructed to contact Social Services if they felt that an elderly patient was at risk and this would be done by way of a form.  He stated that every situation was different and that crews learnt by experience over a period of time.

He pointed out that

·        Crews were only with patients for a short period of time compared with other health professionals.

·        Any training was good but that personnel had to learn a great deal of information in a very short period of time.

·        Very few complaints were received in this area.

·        Although staff were experienced they could miss signs if patients had trauma or were dehydrated

·        Length of training for qualified paramedics: this could be undertaken in two ways the first by Technical entry which comprised an 8 week training scheme followed by 1 years probation or secondly with a 2 year study course which was equivalent to the technical entry followed by more advanced training but it was confirmed that this was still less training than that received by a nurse.

·        Confirmed that relatives/carers were always encouraged to travel with patients in the ambulance and that this included staff in residential homes accompanying residents.

The representative of the Alzheimer’s Society referred to the specialist training their Society provided which she felt could be useful to ambulance personnel.

Members referred to the fact that people were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

This report asks Members whether they wish to take part in the national consultation on the NHS Constitution.

Members considered a report, which asked if they wished to take part in the national consultation on the NHS Constitution. Consideration was given to:

• A letter inviting comments;
• A copy of the consultation document and
• A copy of the constitution.

It was reported that the draft NHS Constitution now

·        recorded in one place what the NHS did, what it stood for and what it should live up to. It set out principles to guide how all parts of the NHS should act and make decisions;

·        it also renewed the commitment to the enduring principles of the NHS and confirmed the commitment to a service that was for everyone, paid for out of taxes, based on clinical need rather than an individual’s ability to pay, and without discrimination of any kind.

·        It set out seven core principles, which aimed to empower patients, make decision-making criteria clearer and safeguard the future of the service. The draft Constitution proposed a new law to ensure that it was reviewed every ten years with its values reaffirmed every three years.

Members were informed that national consultation was underway with the public, stakeholders, patients and staff with the consultation period running to 17 October 2008.

Following discussion it was

RESOLVED:             That record be made that the Committee do not wish to take part in the consultation process.

REASON:                  The majority of proposals in the NHS Consultation were non controversial and the Committee did not feel further comment was required.

This report informs Members of the Committee about recent events attended by both Members and Officers outside of the formal meeting cycle of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

Consideration was given to a report, which informed the Committee of recent events attended, by both Members and Officers outside the formal meeting cycle of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

Details of the following events and meetings were reported:

• Introductory meeting with North Yorkshire & York Primary Care Trust (16.06.08)
• Regional Health Scrutiny Officers Meeting (23.07.08)
• Members’ visit to York Hospital (1.08.08)
• Meeting with NYYPCT (13.08.08)
• Launch of York Carer’s Forum (4.09.08)
• Workshop on LINks and Regional Specialist Commissioning
• Launch of York LINk (15.09.08)
• NYYPCT Annual General Meeting (AGM) (23.09.08)

Members agreed that the reporting of these events was very useful. The Scrutiny Officer asked for any contributions from Members for future updates to be emailed to her.

RESOLVED:             (i)            That the update report be noted;

(ii)That future updates be reported to the Committee on a quarterly basis. ^1.

REASON:      To keep Members informed of events attended that are relevant to Health Scrutiny.   

This report presents Members with the draft protocol for the Yorkshire and Humber Councils Joint Health Scrutiny Committee and asks them to investigate whether they wish to adopt this or not.

Consideration was given to a report, which presented Members with the draft protocol for the Yorkshire and Humber Council’s Joint Health Scrutiny Committee. Members were asked to consider whether or not to adopt this protocol.

The protocol had been developed as a framework for carrying out scrutiny of regional and specialist health services that would impact upon residents across Yorkshire and the Humber under powers for Local Authorities to scrutinise the NHS contained in the Health and Social Care Act 2001. It was reported that the protocol had been jointly drafted by scrutiny officers from across the region and that it was currently being presented for adoption to the 15 Local Authorities that it affected. It was proposed that the regional health scrutiny protocol would replace existing sub-regional protocols.

RESOLVED:             That the Committee adopt the protocol for the Yorkshire and Humber Council’s Joint Health Scrutiny Committee.

REASON:                  To ensure that Members can fully take part in necessary health consultation.