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 additional interests, other than those general personal interests attached to the agenda, were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee held on 11 May 2009.

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the Health Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11 May 2009 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Committee expressed their appreciation of the work carried out by Councillor Fraser as Chair of the previous Health Scrutiny Committee.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered their wish to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is by 5.00pm on Tuesday 7 July 2009, the working day before the meeting. Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the remit of the committee.

To register please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of this agenda.

There had been one registration to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

John Yates, Older People’s Assembly, spoke on item 7 (Update on Recommendations Arising from the Dementia Review).  Referring to the recommendations detailed in Annex A, he stressed the importance of effective dialogue between practitioners and carers and stated that he would welcome information as to the support that would be available for customers as self-funders or contributors.  He also stressed the importance of ensuring that the quality of services was measured as well as recording the number of service-users.

This report highlights the agreed changes to the Overview and Scrutiny function in York, detailing the terms of reference for the new committees and the resources available to support the function.

Members received a report highlighting the agreed changes to the Overview and Scrutiny function in York, detailing the terms of reference for the new committees and the resources available to support the function.

Members sought clarification as to the extent of the Committee’s remit in respect of children’s health, as the monitoring of this service area had not been included in the report.  Members suggested that this may be an area of responsibility that overlapped with other bodies, including the YorOK Board.

The Chair was asked if the Chair and Vice-Chair briefings could be extended to include a Liberal Democrat representative.  The Chair stated that he would discuss this matter with the Vice-Chair.

RESOLVED:            (i)            That the contents of the report be noted.

                        (ii)        That clarification be sought as to the remit of the Health

Overview and Scrutiny Committee in respect of children’s health¹.

REASON:            To inform Members of the new arrangements for scrutiny.

This report presents the Corporate Strategy key performance indicators and action relevant to the remit of this particular Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members received a report on the Corporate Strategy key performance indicators and actions relevant to the remit of this particular Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members suggested that if it was established that child health was within the remit of the Committee, an area of focus could be NPI 55 (obesity among primary school age children in Reception year) and NPI 56 (obesity among primary school age children in year 6).  Consideration could be given to factors impacting on performance towards the targets including: funding allocated to promote healthy eating, school meals provision, changes to school tuck shops and PE and sports activities in schools.

RESOLVED:            (i)            That the contents of the report and its annex be noted.

(ii)               That, at the next meeting, the Committee would determine whether NPI 55 and NPI 56 should be an area of focus for the Committee.

REASON:            To inform the work of the Committee.

This report provides details of the 2008/09 outturn position for both finance and performance in Adult Social Services, the main area covered by the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members received a report providing details of the 2008/09 outturn position for both finance and performance in Adult Social Services, the main area covered by the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

It was noted that the outturn position for Adult Social Services was an overspend of £33k on a total net budget of £38.6m.  There were, however, significant variations within the overall budget.  Officers went through the key issues with Members.  It was noted that overall there had been very good progress on the improvement plan for adult social care.  Members commented on the 30% increase in referrals, which demonstrated that the predicted change in demographics was now starting to be seen in increased demand for Adult Social Services.

Discussion took place regarding NI 130:  Direct payments for social care clients (LAA indicator) – 2008/09 which had seen an 82% rise in the number of social care clients receiving direct payment and individual budgets, placing York in the top quartile compared to other unitary authorities.  Officers were asked to provide a breakdown of adults with learning difficulties opting to receive direct payments compared with those of older people¹.

RESOLVED:            That the report be noted.

REASON:            To update the Committee of the outturn position.

This report presents Members with an update on progress made in relation to implementing the recommendations arising from the ‘Dementia Review’ (Accessing Secondary Care).

Members received a report which gave an update on progress made in relation to implementing the recommendations arising from the “Dementia Review” (Accessing Secondary Care).

Concerns were expressed that it was difficult to evidence the progress that had been made in implementing the recommendations arising from the review.  It was noted that there was a willingness by service providers to address the recommendations but that some of the actions would take time to become established and for the benefits to become evident.

Dr Julian Mark, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, explained that the service was delivering training to front-line staff to enable them to provide an initial assessment of a patient’s mental capacity before taking them to hospital or directing them to alternative care pathways.  In the longer term it would be useful if the different services could share this type of information as this would link well with the safeguarding adults agenda, as well as enabling front-line staff to be informed in advance as to what they may expect when attending a particular address. 

Members sought clarification as to whether service providers were utilising the expertise of the Alzheimer’s Society and other voluntary sector organisations in their training.  It was noted that the voluntary sector was used in the delivery of some staff training. 

Judith Knapton, NHS North Yorkshire and York, updated on the work that they were carrying out in respect of mental health.  The areas covered would include: early diagnosis and treatment, support for carers, services in hospital, home care services, and the provision of a liaison service with care homes.  Further information would be available at the end of July and would be circulated to the committee.  The draft specification would be prepared by October for implementation in April 2010. 

RESOLVED:(i)         That the contents of the report and the progress made on

implementation of the recommendations arising from the Dementia Review be noted.

(ii)               That a further update on progress in implementing the recommendations of the Dementia Review be provided to the Committee in six months time.

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

This report asks Members to consider a scrutiny topic registered by Councillor Simpson-Laing to investigate the Council’s Adult Social Services Inspection Rating and the ongoing improvements recommended by the Inspector.

Members received a report asking them to consider a scrutiny topic registered by Councillor Simpson-Laing to:  “Investigate the Council’s Adult Social Services Inspection Rating and the ongoing improvements as recommended by the Inspector”.  A copy of the topic registration form was attached as Annex A to the report.

Councillor Simpson-Laing expressed her disappointment at the recommendation in the report that the scrutiny topic not be progressed and detailed the reasons, as outlined in the registration form, why she believed that it would be in the public interest and would address issues in respect of underperformance if the Committee were to carry out a review.

Officers detailed the work that was taking place to address the issues arising from the Adult Social Services Inspection Rating and to prepare for the Annual Review Meeting.  The Department was subject to stringent regulation and the changes that had been introduced in November had led to improvement in the performance indicators and in overall progress.   It was now some time since the report had been published and much had happened since then. To hold a review at this time would divert time and effort away from the task of continuing to implement improvements. 

Views were put forward that the Committee should await the outcome of the CQC (Care Quality Commission) Annual Performance Assessment in the autumn before deciding whether to instigate a review.

RESOLVED:(i)         That the registered scrutiny topic to “Investigate the

Council’s Adult Social Services Inspection Rating and the Ongoing Improvements as Recommended by the Inspector” not be progressed.

(ii)               That copies of future Executive Member reports on this matter be received by the Committee prior to them being presented to the Executive Member for consideration.

REASONS:            (i)            In order not to duplicate work already being undertaken.

(ii)               To enable the Committee to make the Executive Member aware of any concerns and/or comments that they might have.

To consider the Committee’s Work Plan for 2009/10.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s Work Plan for 2009/10.  It was agreed that although this was a new committee, it would be appropriate to include in the work plan, those items that had been brought forward from the former Health Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Wiseman stated that she was considering submitting a scrutiny topic registration form on the issue of improving care for newborns and new mothers.  Members indicated that this would be a worthwhile topic for review.

RESOLVED:That the draft Work Plan be approved subject to the inclusion of the following items:

·        Meeting of 23 September 2009 – to include briefing note and presentation on the procurement of Mental Health Services by the PCT

·        Meeting of 2 December 2009 – to include item to consider the feasibility of a scrutiny review on improving care for newborns and new mothers

·        Meeting of 20 January 2010 – to include item on “Dementia Review Update”

·        Item on Annual Health Check to be included on the agenda of a future meeting (date of meeting dependent on timing of the publication of the data)