Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the last meeting held on 19 June 2018 were approved as a correct record.

The Council Plan – Year End Assessment of Performance and Delivery 2017-18

The Committee asked how it was planned to sustain the position to the indicator – LW17 – Gap in employment rate for those in contact with secondary mental health services and the overall employment rate.

Whilst the direction of travel has improved Gateshead is significantly higher than the NE average and has the 3^rd highest % point gap of the 12 NE LA’s

The Committee were advised that this is an important performance measure for the service and it will continued to be monitored with the action and the impact on performance in the ASC monthly performance clinic.

The Committee were also advised that the Care, Wellbeing and Learning service are linking in with NTW and the Economic Development service in terms of the work they both do to support people with mental illness into employment. The Employment and Enterprise Services Team have attended the MH team meeting and will be looking to deliver more support around employment and training resulting in continued improved performance around this measure.

Care, Wellbeing and Learning are also in continued discussion with NTW in terms of data sharing (as it is known that there has been some under reporting previously); data quality issues are being addressed by the service to ensure we are confident that all those in employment are recorded and reported accurately.

Healthwatch report on NHS Continuing Healthcare

At the request of the OSC the report has been circulated for information to all councillors and they have been advised that the OSC will be looking at progress on this issue in Gateshead and a further update will come back to the OSC at its meeting on October.

Councillor Judith Gibson declared a personal interest in the next two agenda items, as she works for North Tyneside CCG.

Briefing note from Sunderland NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (attached)

Representatives from the Clinical Commissioning Group will provide the OSC with an update on this matter.

Ann Fox, Director of Nursing, Quality and Safety and Dr Tracey Lucas, Executive GP and Urgent Care Clinical Lead, NHS Sunderland provided the Committee with a powerpoint presentation and briefing note on the Sunderland CCG Urgent Care Consultation.

The Committee were advised that the consultation is not about closing buildings but it is about proposed changes to urgent care services, which include: no longer providing urgent care services in Houghton, Bunny Hill and Washington and replacing these with appointments in existing 40 GP practices and Sunderland Extended Access Service. An urgent treatment centre located at Pallion Health Centre.

The Committee were also advised that the consultation does not affect other services that are currently based in these buildings. Most people will be treated closer to home; and that this part of a wider range of changes (Sunderland Extended Access Service, home visiting, enhanced NHS 111 and 42,000 extra GP appointments per year)

The CCG advised the Committee under the proposals that urgent care services would be provided closer to home most of the time through 40 GP practices and up to five Sunderland Extended Access Service hubs, plus one Urgent Treatment Centre in Pallion. A newly improved NHS 111 service with more clinical input will help people get the right service first time and reduce the need to be transferred from one service to another.

Marc Hopkinson, NewcastleGateshead CCG and Dr Steve Kirk and Nicola Kenny, Associate Director, Medical Business Unit Queen Elizabeth Hospital were also be in attendance. The Committee were advised that the proposals may have the following impact on Gateshead residents/urgent care provision in Gateshead/Gateshead GP practices:

·         Firstly, there are potentially 1,200 Gateshead residents who may be directly impacted by the proposals

·         Secondly, that the proposals for Sunderland may have a significant impact on urgent care provision in Gateshead and Gateshead GP practices

The Committee expressed concern that the proposals would put extra pressure on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Gateshead GP’s but were advised that extra provision/capacity was being put in place to cope with the increase.

The Committee advised that they understood the need to condense services but were concerned regarding the impact that this would have on certain areas of the borough like Wrekenton and Springwell (Springwell village is part of Sunderland but nearer the QE Hospital) especially as the only growth point in the immediate vicinity is Washington.

The Committee asked if a thorough travel plan had been investigated in line with the consultation process.

The Committee were advised that extra GP availability was being made for every evening, weekend and Bank Holiday in order to cope with the increases and the CCG were confident that capacity was available.

Joint report of the Chief Executive, the Strategic Director, Corporate Services and Governance and the Strategic Director, Care, Wellbeing and Learning.

A Representatives from Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust will also attend to provide the OSC with a presentation on this matter.

The Committee received a report and presentation from Nicola Kenny, Associate Director, Medical Business Unit, QE Hospital on the proposals to begin an exit strategy for St Bede’s Day Care Services and the Younger Person’s Dementia Unit currently operating from the Dunston Hill site and provided by Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.

The Committee were advised that the Trust has commenced engagement with service users, staff, carers and key stakeholders and it is proposed this will be completed by the end of September. The Committee were also advised that the proposed timescales have recently been escalated due to new interest in the site by a potential buyer – Homes England. This is following a number of years of unsuccessful sale of the site. Based on current knowledge a sale is anticipated in November 2018 and the sale means that the service would no longer be able to operate from the site

St Bede’s Day Care Service offers three days a week, utilising a ‘social day care model’   providing an environment whereby service users can be supported through conversation and listening.

Woodside Unit for younger people with a dementia and their carers provides a specialist Community Outreach and Day treatment services for people under the age of 65, and their families, who have a diagnosis of a dementia illness.

The Committee also heard from Evelynn Jackson who was representing the patients at the Palliative Day Care and Madeleine Nettleship (who works at the QE and is a Unison Rep) who is currently representing staff and patients at the Palliative Day Care Hospital at Bensham.

The Committee sought reassurances that the main driver for the proposals was note related to the potential sale of the site and was assured that this was not the case. The situation had however, been expediated by the involvement of Homes England.

Ward Councillors expressed disappointment that they had not had earlier notice of the proposals.

The Committee queried whether there had been any engagement or plans to engage with Healthwatch and asked for representatives of the Trust to come back to a further meeting of the OSC with this information and further information outlining feedback on engagement with service users regarding the proposals. The Committee also asked for further information to be brought on what the trust has done or is doing to mitigate against any potential negative impacts on service users arising from the proposals.

Report of the Strategic Director, Care, Wellbeing and Learning

The Committee received a scoping report as part of the OSC’s review into Helping People to Stay at Home Safely. The Committee were advised that the review will centre on the following 6 core themes of:-

·         Assistive technology and digital information;

·         Enablement services;

·         Housing options to support independent living;

·         Commissioning for enablement outcomes;

·         Emergency and community services;

·         Personalisation and choice.

The report focussed upon how the Local Authority and Gateshead Health Foundation Trust are working collaboratively as part of the Gateshead Care Partnership to provide community based Enablement approaches to residents of Gateshead enabling people to be as independent as possible. The report also detailed the trusted assessor models and interface between the Local Authority and Gateshead Health Foundation Trust (Queen Elizabeth Hospital – QEH) which serve to seamlessly discharge people from hospital back to their own homes.

The Committee were advised that the ageing population means that there will be an increase in demand on both health and social care in future years. Around 53,000 people (1 in 4) in Gateshead have one or more long term conditions. Over 8,000 of these have three or more long term conditions. There is a significant difference in health inequality across the borough (as much as ten years difference) and healthy life expectancy in Gateshead is significantly lower than for England; for men it is 59.1 years compared to 63.3 and for women 60.6 years compared to 63.9. Around 22% of people in Gateshead reported that their health limits day to day activities compared to around 18% nationally (Census 2011). Significantly, Gateshead residents have higher levels of dementia, COPD, coronary heart disease and stroke prevalence than national average levels across England. The population is ageing it is projected that by 2039 there will be an additional 14,400 people aged 65 or order, an increase of 38%.

The Committee were advised that to effectively respond to a Gateshead population that is getting older with an increase in the number of people with life limiting illnesses, the Council’s Adult Social Care Provider service has remodelled its services. These include; PRIME Enablement Service (short term domiciliary care support), Rapid Response, Promoting Independence Centres (Eastwood, Shadon House and Southernwood), Blaydon Resource Centre and Shared Lives. These services all serve to optimise the ability of Gateshead residents to continue living independently in their own homes and attaining a high quality of life. The majority of these services are registered by the Care Quality Commission and have either an ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ rating.

The Committee also received a verbal update about Gateshead Community Services, Trusted Assessment: Hospital Transfers of Care to Eastwood, Trusted Assessment: Hospital Transfers of care into Reablement Services, Bridging Service, Function of the Social work team and supporting Gateshead Community Services in providing care closer to home for people with health and social care needs.

The Committee will also be visiting Blaydon Resource Centre, Shadon House and Eastwood Promoting Independence Centre on the afternoon of 9 October 2018 as part of a site visit programme.  ...  view the full minutes text for item CHW110

Joint Report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director, Corporate Services and Governance

The Committee received a report setting out the provisional work programme for the Care, Health and Wellbeing OSC for the municipal year 2018/19.

The appendix tabled to the report sets out the work programme as it currently stands and highlighted proposed changes to the programme in bold and italics for ease of identification.