Agenda and minutes

The Chair expressed her thanks to the Committee’s outgoing Vice-Chair, Councillor Wiseman, in particular for her work on the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee looking at Children’s Cardiac Surgery. She also welcomed Councillor Doughty in his new role as the Committee’s new Vice Chair, and Councillor Richardson to the Committee.

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.

Councillor Richardson declared a number of standing personal non prejudicial interests including;  a personal non prejudicial interest in agenda item 4 (Update from Yorkshire Ambulance Service on Ambulance Complaints Service) as a frequent user of the service due to ongoing treatment at Leeds Pain Management Unit, as a member of Haxby Medical Centre and due to his niece working as a staff district nurse for NHS North Yorkshire and York.

Councillor Boyce declared a personal non prejudicial interest in agenda item 9 (Update on the Carer’s Review) as a carer.

No other interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2011.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 September 2011 by 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. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 13 December 2011 at 5:00 pm.

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

This report from the Ambulance Service’s Service and Quality Improvement Manager informs the Committee on the number of complaints received into Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) as a year to date position.

Members received an update summary on ambulance service complaints. The Service and Quality Improvement Manager and Head of Emergency Operations, North Yorkshire, attended from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to answer questions.

Members expressed concerns over the process of making complaints, mainly because the complaints service was not thought to be well advertised for those who wished to use the telephone, rather than the internet. Additionally, it was felt that forms and signs regarding complaints were not clearly visible in ambulances or did not exist in some cases. Members felt that information on how and where to make a complaint needed to be easily visible and accessible.

The Committee felt that they should receive a further update report from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service in relation to this in March 2012.

RESOLVED:       That the update from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service be noted.

This report analyses the latest performance for 2011/12 and forecasts the financial outturn position by reference to the service plan and budgets for all of the relevant services falling under the responsibility of the Director of Adults, Children and Education.

Members received a report which analysed the latest performance for 2011/12 and forecast the financial outturn position which referred to the service plan and budgets for Adult Social Care.

Officers updated Members that there had been an overspend in the budget for Adult Social Services and a similar one in Children’s Social Care.

Discussion between Officers and Members explored various issues including;

·        Difficulties in measurements for customers and carers receiving Self Directed Support as a result of the old definition.

·        Perceptions that the personalisation agenda was not working.

·        Measurement of timeliness of social care assessments.

·        The inclusion of ethnicity in Carer’s Needs Assessments.

In her summing up of the item, the Chair specifically noted the financial pressures within the Directorate and the low rise in take up of Direct Payments in individual budgets.

RESOLVED:       That the report be noted.

REASON:           To update the Committee on the latest financial and performance position for 2001/12.

The purpose of this report is to summarise the background to the consultation, the main issues identified by the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) and the recommendations put forward to the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT).

NB: Annex B of the report will only be available online due to its size.

Members received a report which summarised the background to the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s (HOSC)  work in relation to the national consultation on Children’s Congenital Cardiac Surgery. The report also informed the Committee of the recommendations from the Joint HOSC forwarded to the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT).

The report asked the Committee to nominate a new representative to sit on the Regional HOSC in place of Councillor Wiseman. Following discussion it was;

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the report be noted.

(ii)      That Councillor Funnell be elected as the Committee’s representative on the Regional Joint HOSC.

REASON:                     To keep the Committee informed of the work of the Joint HOSC in relation to the proposed changes to children’s cardiac services.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the Committee with information about the proposals to create an urgent care centre for the York area.

Members received a briefing on proposals to create an urgent care centre in the Emergency Department at York Hospital.

The proposed urgent care centre would be located at York Hospital, adjacent to the emergency department and would create a single point for people to access care for minor illness or injury. By the relocation of the walk in centre from Monkgate to the emergency department at York Hospital, patients would be able to access the right care from the right healthcare professional at the right time.

A representative from York Older People’s Assembly attended the meeting and highlighted the importance of the identification of psychological conditions of some patients during triage. He added that he felt that the busy atmosphere at the hospital did not help assessment of these conditions.

Discussion took place which focused on;

·        Figures for attendances and referrals

·        Agreed measures of customer service in the Urgent Care Centre (UCC)

·        The suggestion of a further 24 hour observation of care at the UCC by the Hospital Governors and representatives from York LINks.

It was reported that a GP would head the front of house team at the centre and that most of the cases they would see would be those such as minor illness or injury. It was felt that the new system would take away the need for triage nurses.

Members felt that performance at the new centre should be monitored and that a further 24 hour observation of care be carried out in the future to assess performance.

RESOLVED:       That the briefing report be noted and a further report be brought to the Committee on a date to be confirmed.

REASON:           To keep the Committee informed on the proposals to create an urgent care centre.

This report updates the Committee on the progression from LINks (Local Involvement Networks) to Local HealthWatch by October 2012.

Members received a report which updated them on the progression from LINKs (Local Involvement Networks) to Local HealthWatch by October 2012.

Officers gave a short definition of what Health Watch would be. It would be a new consumer champion for health and social care, which would signpost people to information about health and social care services along with potentially providing an advocacy service for complaints about NHS services.

It was noted that HealthWatch would have representation on the new York Health and Wellbeing Board, and therefore would be directly involved in their work in commissioning.

Questions from Members related to funding for HealthWatch and the need for further feedback on progress, once it had been established.

RESOLVED:       That the report be noted.

REASON:           To keep the Committee informed on progress relating to the establishment of Local Health Watch.

The Health Overview Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) completed a Carer’s Review in 2010/11.  The Committee recommended that the Cabinet Member for Health & Social Services should receive an annual report updating the Carers Strategy and that the same report should be submitted to the Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  The report was submitted to the Cabinet Member 22 November 2011.This report’s purpose is to update the Committee.

Members received a report which included; an annual update on the Carer’s Strategy, an update on the Implementation of the Recommendations arising from the Carer’s Review and a six monthly report in relation to the Indicators being monitored in relation to carers.

Officers highlighted improvements that had come about as a result of the Carers Review such as; improved information for Carers and an active Carer’s Forum.

It was reported that on the six-monthly report in relation to the indicators being monitored, that NHS North Yorkshire and York had sought clarification on which quality indicators wanted to have further clarification on what the quality indicators recommendation Aiii) of the review was referring to.

It was agreed that the Scrutiny Officer would clarify this and inform NHS North Yorkshire and York in writing.

Discussion took place on the implementation of recommendations arising from the Carer’s Review that the Committee had made as a result of the review. They were asked to consider which, if any, of the recommendations they would like to be deemed as complete. Those recommendations that the Committee deemed complete were;

·        (B)     That the Multi-Agency Carer’s Strategy Group identifies where it would be helpful to provide public information about what it means to be a carer and how to access support to enable carers to identify themselves earlier.

·        (Bi)    Where places are identified carer awareness training should be made available to key workers.

·        (C) and (Ci) That City of York Council reviews its Equalities Framework to ensure that carers become an integral part of all equality and inclusion work and this to include; inviting a carer representative to become a member of the Equalities Advisory Group (EAG). (York Carers Forum representatives now attended EAG.

·        (D)    That health commissioners ensure that all care pathways provide guidance on the information and advice carers will need regarding specific medical conditions as well as sign-posting them to support and advice. This will need to address what the impact might be on: i) The Carer, ii) The family as a whole and iii) The cared for person

The Committee felt that the following recommendations were still ongoing and wished to be updated on the progress of their implementation. These were;

·        (A), (Ai), (Aii) and (Aiii) That Health Commissioners and providers ensure that there is greater consistency around how carers are identified and once identified their needs addressed and this to include; (Ai) Training in carer awareness for all health professionals and allied staff (Aii) That the hospital looks at extending the innovative approaches they have been piloting and embedding these into standard practices for all admissions and discharges and (Aiii) That a written report be provided to the Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee on a sixth monthly basis in relation to quality indicators that are being monitored in respect of carers.

·        (E)     That Adult Social Services develop a clear pathway, which provides an integrated approach to assessment for the whole family whilst  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

This report introduces the Local Account for Adult Social Care 2011. 

Members received a report which introduced the Local Account for Adult Social Care 2011. They were asked to comment on the content of the Local Account ahead of its approval by the Cabinet Member for Health Housing and Adult Social Services at her meeting on 20 December 2011, note the performance and improvements described in the Local Account for 2010/11 information and note the areas for development and improvement for the coming year.

RESOLVED:                That the report be noted.

REASON:                     To inform the Committee on the contents of the Local Account for Adult Social Care 2011.

This report updates the Committee on progress made in relation to their review on End of Life Care. It details outcomes of an informal meeting held on 13^th October 2011 where the aim was to begin to scope and timetable the review. It also sets out further developments since that date.

Members received a report which updated them on progress made in relation to their review on End of Life Care.

The Chairman of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust attended the meeting and he informed the Committee that work had been started to improve how the hospital used Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation forms (DNACPR) and that specific training was now being offered to all doctors on how to use the forms in order to ensure consistency.

RESOLVED:       That the report be noted.

REASON:           To update the Committee on the review’s progress.

Members are asked to review the Committee’s Work Plan for 2011-12.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s work plan for 2011-12.

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the work plan be noted.

(ii)      That a further meeting be scheduled to take place in February 2012 in order to help spread the Committee’s workload.

(iii)     That the following items be added to the Committee’s work plan ¹;

·        That the Chief Executive or Deputy Chief Executive of NHS North Yorkshire and York be invited to attend the Committee’s January meeting to present a written report and discuss their proposed cuts to voluntary sector funding from April 2012.

·        That a further update report be received from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service on their Ambulance Complaints Service at the Committee’s meeting in March 2012.

·        That a further report on the performance of the recently established Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at York Hospital be brought to the Committee. (Date to be confirmed).

·        That a report on the indicators being monitored in relation to the Carer’s Review be brought to the Committee in six months time.

·        That an update report on the implementation of the outstanding recommendations from the Carer’s Review be considered by the Committee at a future meeting. (Date to be confirmed).

·        That an annual update report on the Carer’s Strategy be scheduled to be considered by the Committee at their meeting in December 2012.

REASON:                     To keep the Committee’s work plan up to date.