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Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bridges Room - Civic Centre

Contact: Rosalyn Patterson 

Items
No. Item

CHW1

Minutes of last meeting pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED    -           That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2023 be

approved as a correct record.

CHW2

Constitution pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Report of the Chief Executive

Minutes:

RESOLVED    -           That the Constitution of the Committee for the municipal year

2023-2024 be noted.

CHW3

Role and Remit pdf icon PDF 77 KB

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

Minutes:

RESOLVED    -           That the role and remit of the Committee be noted.

CHW4

Performance Management and Improvement Framework - Year End Performance 2022-23 pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Report of Strategic Director, Resources and Digital

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the year end performance report for the period April 2022 to March 2023.

 

A deep dive look into waiting lists in terms of Adult Social Care was previously requested and the Committee received a presentation on this area of performance. 

 

ADASS benchmarking survey information was provided which looks at comparators both locally and nationally and with statistical neighbours. ADASS is looking at waiting lists across Adult Social Care and it was noted that there has been a significant increase since Covid, with people coming forward earlier into care.

 

In terms of those on the waiting list for an assessment there has been a slight reduction on last year’s figure, however it remains relatively static. It was noted that the bulk of the list, 58%, is for Occupational Therapy (OT) assessments. There is no DoLS waiting list.  It was reported that there has been a 50% increase from last year of those waiting over 6 months for an assessment.

 

There has been a significant decrease in the numbers waiting for care and support, and it was acknowledged that now care can be accessed more easily the system will start moving.

 

The number of overdue reviews of care plans has reduced significantly following targeted work.

 

Waiting lists are a national concern and work has been ongoing in Gateshead to address this issue. There has been agreement for additional investment in OT trainees, which has worked well in terms of the Social Worker trainee model, with much higher levels of interest than for other posts. The additional capacity as a result of the trainees will be used to reduce waiting times.

 

There is additional investment in hospital discharge capacity and reablement capacity, with the new Promoting Independence Centre opening in the Autumn, which will increase bed capacity and avoid hospital admissions.  Community reablement has been strengthened through the OT team, thus diverting people from assessments and long-term care packages. Consequently this will relieve the bottle neck in referrals for assessments and free up Social Worker capacity.

 

Work is ongoing to address sickness levels. In addition, caseload monitoring and tracking is underway.  A pilot is also underway using assistive technology to inform assessments and therefore improve timescales.

 

It was reported that annually an NHS Digital Social Care survey is required.  In terms of Gateshead, there has been an improvement across the board for all but one of the survey indicators; the proportion of people who use services who say that those services have made them feel safe and secure. Positively the indicator which measures the proportion of people who use services who feel safe has improved, therefore the indication is that other factors which make them feel safe, rather than the service specifically.  Work is underway with Healthwatch and partners to improve the offer around health and advice.  Overall satisfaction of people who use the service in Gateshead is as its highest level since 2017/18.

 

The Committee was provided with the PMIF Plan on a page which is a quarterly publication  ...  view the full minutes text for item CHW4

CHW5

Work to Attract and Retain a multi-professional Workforce and Access to GP Appointments pdf icon PDF 812 KB

Presentation from representatives of the North East North Cumbria Integrated Care Board

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation from representatives of the NENC ICB giving a workforce update.

 

An overview of the Primary Care Network (PCN) structure was provided. In Gateshead there are 5 PCN’s, with the largest in Central South which has 10 practices. The smallest PCN is Birtley and Central Gateshead, which has 3 practices.  Central South PCN has 31.8% of Gateshead’s patients and the lowest is East PCN which has 14%.

 

The last survey results to be published around patient data was in January 2022, 2023 results are due to be published next month. The results show that 10 practices in Gateshead do not have enough GPs, this is based on 1,800 patients per GP.  It was noted that, despite high numbers in the GP training programme, many are moving abroad or into another part of the system upon completion of their training programme. It was acknowledged that this is a national issue. It was also recognised that the workforce is young and has different needs, many of them do not want to join partnerships but prefer to be a salaried GP or Locum which enables them to move between roles and build a portfolio of experience. 

 

In order to support the issues raised a number of initiatives have been introduced. NHS England has made funding available to PCNS to grow capacity through Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), in order to enhance a multi-disciplinary community offer. ARRS supports recruitment in roles including of Clinical Pharmacists, Social Prescribing Link Workers, Physician Associates, Physiotherapists, Paramedics and Mental Health Practitioners.  Each PCN analysed their need and created ARRS roles, which eased the pressure on GP appointments. In Gateshead 136 ARRS staff were in place as of May 2023.

 

In terms of GP appointments a snapshot of data from October 2022 was provided which showed that the majority of appointments were held face to face. PCNs will also provide extended access appointments for all patients between 6-8pm Monday – Friday and 8am – 5pm on a Saturday. It was noted that between October and March there were an additional 12749 appointments.  A national framework from NHSE has just been published in relation to PCN Access Recovery, and health colleagues are working through it.

 

It was reported that recruitment issues continue to be a national problem, with a shortage of staff in all parts of the health and social care system. Gateshead Cares Workforce Partnership has identified issues impacting locally on the workforce and ways to overcome them;

-        Recruitment from local community

-        Training and career pathways

-        Making Gateshead an attractive place to work

-        Staff benefits and rates of pay

 

An analysis will also be conducted to identify where the biggest gaps in the workforce are.

 

It was reported that Health Education England (HEE) has commissioned a national programme for adults aged over 19 receiving work related benefits to support them into health and social care roles. So far 150 residents in Gateshead have engaged. In the first cohort, 6 gained employment  ...  view the full minutes text for item CHW5

CHW6

Public Health Update on £5m Grant to research Inequalities pdf icon PDF 230 KB

Presentation from Public Health

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation on the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC).

 

This is a five year programme and the outcome of this work is intended to be a long-term reduction in health inequalities across Gateshead and bridge gaps between communities to make a real difference.

 

Work currently is underway building a core central research team, working with Newcastle University developing research infrastructure.  The team is looking to influence the culture of the Council by making research part of normal activity for all staff and helping teams plan and conduct research in order to make services the best for Gateshead residents.

 

The HDRC is Local Authority owned, funded for 5 years, focused on building the local evidence base and to engage communities in research to develop a lasting legacy, developing a local centre of research excellence.  It was noted that the HDRC is not a funding source for research projects and cannot be used for interventions, initiatives or council services.

 

Committee was advised of progress to date and examples of potential research work.

 

It was questioned where this would end up unless there was a change in terms of government policy. It was acknowledged that this enables more innovative work, challenge and shaping programmes to meet local need instead of doing what has always been done.

 

RESOLVED    -           That the information presented be noted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHW7

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 81 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the work programme for the new municipal year 2023-24.

 

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That Committee noted the information contained in the

annual work programme report.

 

                                    (ii)        That Committee endorsed the OSC’s provisional work

programme for 2023-24, subject to any amendments

arising from consideration of appendix 2, and referred it to Council on 20 July 2023 for agreement.

 

                                    (iii)       That Committee noted that further reports will be

brought to the Committee to identify any additional issues which the Committee may be asked to consider.

 

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