Agenda and minutes

Assistant Director of External Relations, NHS Rotherham

The Chair introduced Helen Watts, to the Panel.  Helen had been newly appointed to the post of Assistant Director of External Relations with NHS Rotherham.

Quality Accounts – Joint meeting with LINkrotherham

Members were given a final reminder that a joint meeting was being hosted by LINkrotherham to look at the draft quality accounts for RDASH and the Rotherham Foundation Trust on Thursday 29^th April 2010 at their offices on Coke Hill, Rotherham.  She urged members of the panel to attend and asked that anyone interested to contact Delia Watts.

Yorkshire and Humber Regional Health Scrutiny Network

The Chair reported that she and Councillor Barron had met with other elected members on 17^th March to discuss the best way of scrutinising health on a regional basis.  It had been suggested and agreed that an informal meeting of members take place a few times a year, to look at issues that were coming up.

If members agreed to scrutinise an issue, a formal committee would be set up to include representatives from all authorities that wanted to become involved.

She confirmed that members of the panel would be kept informed of the work undertaken.

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

There were no members of the public and press present at the meeting.

Christine Dickinson, Co-ordinator for LINkrotherham gave a presentation in respect of the LINkrotherham Work Programme. 

The presentation drew specific attention to:-

• LINkrotherhamWorkplans
  • Personalisation
  • Discharge procedure for Cancer Patients
  • Deaf and Hard of Hearing – support for patients
  • Dementia Patient in Care Homes – facilities/support in care homes to meet the needs of dementia sufferers, their families and carers
  • GP/Patient Engagement
    • GP provision in Laughton Common – to establish whether there was a need
• The Future
• Joint Working
  • Health affects all aspects of life
  • Working together to get it right first time and reduce inequalities

• Campervan

A discussion ensued and the following issues were discussed:

• How would LINkrotherham relate to patient care on hospital wards, in particular the treatment of the elderly.  It was confirmed that if the problem was brought to the attention of LINkrotherham it would be logged and measures would be put in place for improvement, and then closely monitored.
• A concern was raised about the number of GP practices who did not have the facility for taking blood samples, leaving many patients having to make journeys across town to have this done.  It was noted that this service was an optional service which some GP surgeries offered, it was not obligatory.  However if enough concern was raised with LINkrotherham, they could try to encourage more surgeries to provide this service.
• A query was raised as to where the funding came from for the LINk.  Confirmation was given that this was a government initiative which was funded by the Department of Health.
• Reference was made to the GP surgery at Laughton Common and a suggestion was made that LINk looked at the implications for surgeries at Dinnington/Thurcroft as part of their review.
• How do LINkrotherham qualify the money they are spending and how do they gauge whether what they were doing was benefiting Rotherham?  It was confirmed that a report would be presented to the Commissioners/providers of service.  They would then monitor the progress contained within the report.

Resolved:- That the work programme be noted.

Christine Dickinson, LINk Co-ordinator presented the submitted report concerning the LINkrotherham Campervan.

During May 2009 LINkrotherham carried out 3 weeks of public engagement using a VW Campervan.  The campaign was so successful that LINkrotherham had decided to do it again, with a slight twist.

The campaign this year would be primarily aimed at evidencing work plans rather than public engagement.  The VW Campervan will be hired from 5^th June until 18^th June 2010.

To celebrate the end of the campaign and the fact that it will be Carers Week LINkrotherham will be holding a town centre event on 18^th June and all participants on the van will be invited to attend, free of charge.

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were discussed:-

• What measures were in place for engaging with young people?  It was confirmed that a visit to Dearne Valley College had been arranged so far, but any other suggestions would be welcome.
• Reference was made to the fact that last year the campervan visited the north of Rotherham mainly, and a query was raised as to whether the same places would be visited this time or whether it would be new ones.  Confirmation was given that this year would be all new venues, which were appropriate to the work programme.

Resolved:- That the content of the report be noted.

Councillor Jo Burton presented the submitted report which set out the findings and recommendations of the scrutiny review into the social and community aspects of breastfeeding in Rotherham.

The aim of the review was to identify what measures could be put in place in order to encourage more women to initiate and sustain breastfeeding.

Specifically the review looked at:-

• What was currently available in Rotherham to support women to breastfeed
• The views and experiences of mothers in Rotherham
• Examples of good practice locally and elsewhere
• How existing resources could be best utilised
• How the Council and the wider Rotherham Partnership could play its part in making Rotherham more breastfeeding friendly.

The recommendations from the review included:-

• Pilot breastfeeding friendly council building at all libraries – ideally with a launch during National Breastfeeding week, 21-27 June 2010.  Evaluate the lessons learned from the pilot by October 2010.
• Develop a phased programme to apply for accreditation to NHS Rotherham’s ‘Breastfeeding Friendly Rotherham Award’ for all buildings that are open to the public, to be completed by May 2012
• Draft simple guidance for staff to ensure a consistent approach to breastfeeding women – both employees and visitors to council buildings.
• Develop a Rotherham Breastfeeding Manifesto (to make the Borough of Rotherham breastfeeding-friendly) by bringing together all relevant agencies with the shared aim of boosting rates.
• Promote Breastfeeding Friendly Rotherham via the Rotherham Show in September 2010.
• Encourage closer working between health professionals and peer supporters.

Following consideration of the report, the review and its recommendation were to be submitted to PSOC on 16^th April 2010 for approval, and to Cabinet on 28^th April 2010.  The Cabinet response to the recommendations was then required by the end of June.

Progress on the review’s recommendations would be monitored on a six monthly basis by the Adult Services and Health Scrutiny Panel.

A comment was made that some women had difficulty breastfeeding and therefore had no choice but to bottle feed.  It was noted that there was very little advice or support offered by midwives to assist these women.  Councillor Burton confirmed that this had been recognised and that one of the recommendations of the review was to give midwives more training in this area.

A discussion took place around publicising breastfeeding more, in particular making it more acceptable for young mums to breastfeed in public.  It was confirmed that there was a “Breastfeeding Awareness Week” planned in June which would be well publicised.  Also steps were being taken to raise awareness with local businesses to encourage them to provide facilities for young mums to breastfeed their babies.

Resolved:- (1) That Members endorse the findings and recommendations of the report

(2) That the report be forwarded to Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee for approval, and future submission to Cabinet

(3) That the response of Cabinet to the recommendations be fed back to this panel.

Consideration was given to a report concerning the visit to the Rotherham Community Health Centre by members of the Adult Services and Health Scrutiny Panel on 11^th March 2010. 

The £12m Rotherham Community Health Centre (RCHC), Greasborough Road, was developed by NHS Rotherham in order to provide patients with rapid access to a wide range of health services and is part of the delivery of the Better Health, Better Lives strategy. 

The Chair expressed her disappointment at the low numbers attending the visit and suggested that, in future, other similar visits at the request of the Panel would only go ahead if a minimum of six panel members were able to attend.

GP Surgery and Walk-In Service

Located within the centre is Chantry Bridge Medical Practice, which was operated by Care UK and opens on week days from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, offering a range of comprehensive services to registered patients.

Members of the Panel noted that the facility was extremely well used, with the GP surgery already having more than 200 patients registered, many of whom were newly arrived in Rotherham.

A major feature of the new centre was a Walk-in service for treating minor illnesses and injuries.  People are able to walk in without an appointment to see a GP or healthcare practitioner, whether registered at the practice or not, between 8.00 am and 9.00pm, seven days a week, including bank holidays.

The facilities available at the “Walk-in” were aimed at helping people with busy lifestyles who needed access to flexible and convenient health services.  It was designed to complement local GP and hospital services, to provide a range of treatments to members of the public when their GP practice was closed.

Staff can work flexibly across the GP and Walk-in services as need demands, and there have been event greater integration of the services from 28^th March 2010.

Diagnostic Centre

The Diagnostic Centre, which is also operated by Care UK, is part of a government initiative to provide additional, purpose built environments to efficiently and effectively meet the challenge of increasing access to healthcare in the UK.

It is open Monday to Saturday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, including bank holidays, offering a range of diagnostic imaging procedures, X-ray, Ultrasound, Echocardiograms and MRI.

The centre does not currently have a plaster room so when minor breaks and fractures are diagnosed the patient would need to go to hospital for treatment.  The panel members recommended that a plaster room be commissioned for the centre, and this was to be considered.

Other Services

The centre also provided most of the primary care services that were based at Doncaster Gate Hospital.  These included:

• Ear care centre
• Speech ad Language therapy
• Community Physiotherapy
• Sexual Health
• Family Planning
• Phlebotomy
• Podiatry
• Specialist surgery suite (for use by GPs with Special Interests (GPSI) to perform treatments such as vasectomies)

The Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) Health Advice Centre and Community Dental had also moved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Delia Watts, Scrutiny Adviser concerning Yorkshire Ambulance Service Quality Account 2009-10.

As of this year, all NHS trusts were required to publish Quality Accounts which provided information for service users and the public on the quality of the services they deliver.  Overview and Scrutiny Committees were part of the assurance process and Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) was required to share a draft version of its 2009-10 Quality Accounts with them.

The draft 2009-10 Account was appended to the report and aimed to:

• Demonstrate YAS’s commitment to improving the quality of care for the people it served;
• Let people know where and how it had improved its services;
• Share its plans to improve its services in the coming year.

YAS had suggested that the Panel may wish to consider the following issues, in its response:

• Is the Quality Account a fair picture of YAS’s services?
• Does the Quality Account cover all the services the Trust provides?
• Does the Quality Account cover the most important quality issues for the Trust and its patients?

Delia circulated a document which detailed some suggested comments for members to consider.  These related to the following two issues:-

• Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
• Review of Quality Performance

Resolved:- That the Panel submit comments on the Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s 2009-10 Quality Account as circulated at the meeting.

Delia Watts circulated a document detailing suggestions for the Adult Services and Health Scrutiny Panel Work Programme 2010/11.

These included:

Adult Services

• Assessment process from users’ perspective
• Advocacy Strategy
• Hospital Aftercare Service
• Revenue Budget (Monitoring)
• Forward Plan
• Budget 2011/12
• Assistive technology review

Health

• Better Health Better Lives
• End of Life Care
• Occupational Therapy
• Patient Transport Service contract
• 2010/11 Quality Accounts – Panel Comments
• Health Inequalities

Other/Joint

• Outcomes from LINk Survey of care home residents with dementia
• Autism Strategy for Adults in England
• Intermediate Care
• LINk work programme
• Presentation from Tassibee
• Rotherham Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

Reviews

• Diabetes

In addition to this it was suggested that work be undertaken in respect of:-

• Social Isolation
• Update relating to Prostate Cancer and Cervical Cancer
• Update relating to improvements to service on hospital wards
• Assessment process to focus in particular on hospital assessments
• Operation of Direct Payments

Resolved:- That the suggestions for the draft work programme be noted.

Proposed Changes at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals

Consideration was given to the minutes of the South Yorkshire Joint Health Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18^th March 2010.

It was noted that the Trust’s reconfiguration proposals would improve clinical outcomes and reduce the need for patients to travel between the Northern General and Hallamshire sites in Sheffield.

The Trust had been asked to write to all South Yorkshire elected members, once proposals were approved, to explain the changes.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the South Yorkshire Joint Health and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18^th March 2010 be noted.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 4^th March 2010 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care held on 22^nd February 2010 and 9^th March 2010 be noted and received.