Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting, Members were invited to declare any personal, prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests, other than their standing interests attached to the agenda, that they might have had business on the agenda.

Councillor Ayre declared two personal interests in the remit of the committee. He was an employee of York MIND and sat on the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Board (which sits under the Health and Wellbeing Board).

Councillor Doughty asked that his standing declarations of interest be amended to remove the mention of him as a volunteer for York and District MIND.

No other interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2013.

Resolved:           That the minutes of the last Health Overview and   Scrutiny Committee held on 18 December 2013 be approved and signed by the Chair subject to the following addition;

Minute Item 61:  It was suggested that future topics for consideration could include, delayed discharges, access to Outpatient Services, the process of making a hospital appointment for physiotherapy services and the way people book out Outpatient Appointments.

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 14 January 2014 at 5:00 pm.

Please note that this meeting, including public speakers, will be sound recorded to allow members of the public to listen to  the proceedings without having to attend the meeting. The sound recording will be uploaded on to the Council’s website following the meeting.

It was reported that there had been one registration to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Siân Balsom from Healthwatch York spoke in relation to Agenda Item 5 (Building the Relationship between the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee). She believed that both the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) could do more to show that members of the public could be at the heart of planning, delivery and review of health and social care services in the city. She commented that both bodies needed to be more explicit about public engagement and use whatever mechanisms could achieve this, to commit genuinely with the public.

This report presents updated information on the work so far completed by Members of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) in relation to the corporate review into York’s night time economy and asks Members to formulate their recommendations to the Corporate Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC).

Members considered an interim report on the work undertaken to date in relation to the corporate review into York’s night time economy and seeking their views on any potential recommendations for submission to the Corporate Scrutiny Management Committee.

Discussion took place around the data which showed alcohol related attendances at York Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED).Some concern was expressed about the figures shown in the report since they dated back to 2011. These, however, were the most recently published figures. It was noted that there had been no specific new data released on what percentage of attendances were due to alcohol. It was pointed out that there was a spike in ED attendance to [as amended at Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 19 February 2014]due to alcohol admissions. Whilst the data did not show whether there was or not a correlation to ED admissions being as a result of alcohol consumption specifically in York city centre, it did demonstrate that attendances due to alcohol could not be traced back to pubs and clubs in York specifically.

Discussion then took place on the focus of the review and report to date.

Members agreed to provide details of potential recommendations for inclusion in the draft report, as appropriate.

Resolved:  That the report be [as amended at Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 19 February 2014]date be noted and recommendations be provided for incorporation by Members, as indicated above.

Reason:    To ensure compliance with scrutiny procedures protocols and workplans.

This report asks the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) to consider their working relationship with the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) and puts forward some suggestions as to how this can be progressed.The ultimate aim of this report is to look at ways of building a robust working relationship between the two bodies.

Members received a report which asked them to consider their working relationship with the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB). The report put forward some suggestions as to how this relationship could be progressed.

In relation to the points raised under Public Participation about the need to hear the patient voice more clearly, it was strongly felt that both HOSC and HWBB needed to be driven by patients and residents of the city.

In regards to how the relationship between the two could be progressed, it was suggested that the Chair of the HWBB should attend meetings of HOSC on a more regular basis. Some Members also felt that a greater number of joint meetings should be scheduled rather than the number suggested in the report.

Discussion took place on the accountability of the HWBB. It was noted that Officers were not sure whether the Committee could hold the Board itself to account, as the Board was another Committee of the Council. Officers confirmed that they would seek legal advice on this.

Some Members were concerned about the reference to Healthwatch undertaking the patient voice role in any developed framework between HOSC and HWBB, as it was only a small organisation and the ‘patient voice’ itself was made up of disparate groups. They added that a piece of work needed to take place on what current engagement took place with the patient voice in the city.

Other Members agreed that Healthwatch could not represent the whole patient voice itself but pointed out that Healthwatch already had a framework for how they would work with HWBB and HOSC. It was therefore suggested that Paragraph 24 of the report be reworded to “It is therefore suggested that the Committee consider asking Healthwatch York to take the lead of the patient voice in any framework developed”. 

Officers suggested topics that had been or were due to be discussed at HWBB meetings that could be scrutinised by the Committee. These included;

·        The consequences that could arise out of the HWBB’s priority to have a financially stable health and social care system in the city.

·        How the Better Care Fund would have an affect on acute health services provided in the city.

Some Members suggested that perhaps HWBB could consider information from HOSC’s ongoing Night Time Economy Review and examine alcohol harm reduction.

Resolved:  (i)       That the report be noted.

(ii)     That clarification be sought as to the legal role of the Health and Overview and Scrutiny Committee in holding the Health and Wellbeing Board to account.

Reason:    In order to establish a strong working relationship between HOSC, HWBB and the patient voice in York.

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s work plan for the municipal year.

Members considered the Committee’s work plan.

During discussion the following amendments were agreed;

·        That the Annual Report on the Carer’s Strategy be considered at the Committee’s March meeting.

·        That an item on the recommissioning of services by the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group be put on the agenda for the February meeting.

Resolved:  That the work plan be noted with the aforementioned amendments.

Reason:    To ensure that the Committee has a planned programme of work in place.