Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest in respect of any of the items of business on the agenda.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

The Chair advised that there were no items of business that would require the exclusion of the press or public from the meeting.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

No questions had been received from members of the public or press in respect of matters on the agenda for the meeting.

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 June 2020 as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting of the Health Select Commission held on 4 June 2020.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 June 2020 be agreed as a correct record.

Update on Covid-19 Response and Recovery – Adult Social Care

The Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health provided a summary of key issues and developments in relation to the pandemic.  The present position fell between response and recovery and the next month would be important to see the effects of the easements introduced by the Government on the community and the most vulnerable.

Face-to-face interactions were increasing with precautions taken through social distancing and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where appropriate but work was done remotely whenever possible, often at people’s own request.  In terms of the dip in demand seen at the beginning of the pandemic, this was now going back up.  Some readmissions to care homes had occurred but not a significant increase, which was positive and would continue to be monitored.  Carer breakdown continued to be a concern and officers were working on this at sub-regional level.

Guidance was anticipated regarding provision of day care opportunities, whether in-house or externally provided.  Clarification was also being sought on respite, both in general and with regard to testing. 

The process had changed again for re-testing in care homes and would be every 28 days for any person in a 65+ care home and weekly for staff.  Any concerns regarding a residential care home could see testing undertaken weekly, which in turn raised concerns about provider ability to manage this.  This was a national initiative through the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) portal, whereas before local stratification in terms of risk had been carried out and Rotherham would be closely monitoring this.  This was a good example of still being in a state of responding, as matters were not yet stable in terms of the expectations for care homes.  It was clarified that testing in care homes was paid for by health through the NHS and the Director of Public Health would also have some access to emergency testing although the detail was awaited. 

The Government had formed a Social Care Taskforce comprising a wide range of organisations to have a full oversight of the situation in adult social care.  

The Council was waiting for the re-testing regime to be extended to learning disability, mental health and supported living but there was an issue over capacity.  If continual testing was undertaken as some people were asymptomatic then in all likelihood more positive test results would ensue. 

Recovery was being undertaken slowly together with partners in terms of stepping services back up in a planned way.  Some of the new ways of working would be retained as people had liked them and there was collective practice within the directorate to consider all the learning and ways to be agile, including in the contact centre.  Various compliments had been received.  The service worked closely with the Community Hub which had led to a lot of requests coming through, not just from those shielding, but regarding the food banks.  Close monitoring would be needed should a new cohort of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

Teresa Roche, Director of Public Health to present a report which focuses on the first 1001 days; from conception to a child’s second birthday.

After a brief introduction by Cllr Roche, the Director of Public Health delivered a short presentation to introduce the Public Health Annual Report 2019 - The First 1001 Days.

Annual Report of the Director of Public Health (DPH)

•        Statutory duty to write independent report on health and wellbeing of local population

•        The annual report continues to be one of the ways in which DPH can highlight specific issues that will improve the health and wellbeing of the

population of Rotherham

•        2018 previous Annual Report focused on ‘What keeps us happy and well in Rotherham?’

Progress on recommendations from last year (2018)

1)    Re-launch of Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) – Community insight to supplement the data was impacted by Covid-19 but to note the importance of work on loneliness and isolation and focus on mental health and mental ill health.  Increased focus on the local economic plan in readiness for jobs coming back and links to numbers 5 and 6. 

2)    Raising awareness/training mental health – positive impact of men’s small grants programme.

3)    Workforce development and training as part of the Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy – Getting closer to communities and more assessment based approach

4)    Support the expansion of the offer of social prescribing

5)    All partners to continue to support the ‘Working Win’

6)    Rotherham launch of the South Yorkshire BeWell@Work Award

7)    Interactive artwork at the Rotherham Show

Under Making Every Contact Count 362 people have been trained.  With Five Ways to Wellbeing mental health, alcohol awareness and sleep awareness courses had all run, more health champions had been recruited and over 100 people trained in dementia awareness.  15 schools were involved.

2019 Annual Report - Focus of Report

•        The First 1001 Days – A legacy for life

•        Key Influencers on the First 1001 Days

•        Preparing for Parenthood

•        Pregnancy

•        The First 2 Years of Life, including showcasing what we are doing in Rotherham

The First 1001 Days – Window of Opportunity

•        Between conception and a child’s second birthday

•        Critical to life-long health and wellbeing

•        Not every baby has the same opportunities in Rotherham

•        Impact of parental behaviours

•        Wider societal influences e.g. living in areas with polluted air

Recommendations

In Rotherham we will develop, jointly with all stakeholders and partners, a clear and ambitious plan to improve support for children, parents and families in the first 1001 days; key actions are outlined below.

What we can do together

Work in a partnership with our services to improve the health and wellbeing of families and their young children.  In particular have a focus on:

1. Reduction in Smoking in Pregnancy rates
2. Improve diet and nutrition
3. Promote physical activity
4. Increase breastfeeding prevalence
5. Increase Ages and Stages Questionnaire -3
6. Improve air pollution
7. Support offered by Public Health Commissioned Services

The First 1001 Days, between conception and a child’s second birthday, was critical to life-long health and wellbeing as it was difficult to reverse negative consequences beyond 1001 days.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

Lesley Cooper, Healthwatch Manager will introduce the new service and key issues for 2020-21.

The Chair welcomed Lesley Cooper, manager of the new Healthwatch service to her first Health Select Commission meeting. 

Healthwatch England (HWE) was established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and every local authority was obliged to commission a local Healthwatch service.  The main powers and duties of the local Healthwatch were outlined for Members:

?      To represent the voice of local people in health and social care matters.

?      To signpost people to information on health and social care matters.

?      To provide information about what people can do when things go wrong with their treatment/care.

?      A have a seat on the Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure residents are involved in local decision making.

?      Powers to request information from commissioners

?      Powers to enter health and social care premises.

?      To feed back information locally to councils and partners and nationally to Healthwatch England

The new contract commenced from 1 April 2020 when Healthwatch moved over to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.  The transition happened smoothly with no loss of service due to advance planning, however the service had been affected by the pandemic in terms of delays in staff recruitment and forming the steering group.  The independent complaints advocacy work was no longer part of Healthwatch’s remit.

Healthwatch employed multiple means of gathering information from residents:

?      Speaking to local people at community events (pre Covid-19)

?      Surveys, social media and online forums

?      Getting involved in national campaigns via Healthwatch England

?      Healthwatch Hour (post Covid-19) – Question and Answer session

?      Working in partnership with other third sector organisations, service providers and commissioners

Activity to date in the first quarter of the year was highlighted:

?      Responded to residents’ concerns via email and telephone (69 clients to date)

?      Provided up to date information on our social media pages and website

?      Kept in regular contact with commissioners and service providers

?      Ran an online survey regarding Covid-19 (175 responses in 10 days)

?      Fed back information to Healthwatch England on cancer services, maternity and mental health.

?      Taken up our seat on the Health and Wellbeing Board.

?      Appointed two new volunteers for the Steering Group, (five potential members to be interviewed next week)

?      Made new contacts with established groups in Rotherham

During quarter two Healthwatch hoped to make progress and achieve the following:

?      Have a Steering Group in place with work plan and priorities agreed

?      Successfully recruit an Engagement Officer and Research & Campaigns Officer.

?      Set up a quarterly newsletter.

?      Expand the Healthwatch Hour idea to incorporate an online chat session

?      Work with third sector partners to arrange some form of engagement with seldom heard groups.

?      Continue to attend strategic meetings and build relationships with service providers and commissioners.

?      Work with South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw Integrated Care System.

?      Look at opportunities that arise from the post Covid recovery.

Future plans encompassed the #BecauseWeAllCare campaign (joint work with HWE and the CQC); outreach sessions (virtually in the first instance); post boxes for comments in all GP practices/outpatient areas and Healthwatch Hour/Healthwatch Huddles.  Hospital discharges would be one of the first issues in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

Janet Spurling, Governance Advisor, introduced the final draft of the Health Select Commission’s work programme for 2020-21 for approval.  The programme reflected agenda items prioritised by HSC for 2020-21; together with issueson which the Select Commission had requested progress reports in order to scrutinise the impact of service or policy changes; plus other items delegated from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board for monitoring.

Overall priorities for the year included:

·       Covid-19 response and recovery

·       Adult Social Care – development and performance

·       Depression and Mental Health – all ages

·       Healthy Weight

·       Carers

·       Health Inequalities

The programme would also take account of the response to and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, following the scrutiny of Care Homes in June.  This would include not only the immediate response to the pandemic and any lessons learned across services and partners but also broader implications for services and for patients and service users.  As many services were being delivered very differently as a result of the pandemic, it would also present an opportunity to reconsider how things might be done in the future, rather than an automatic resumption to former ways.

Appendix 2 set out the proposed membership for the Quality Subgroups for Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust and Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, based on last year’s membership, for approval. 

Members were requested to express an interest to be involved in the sub-group for Yorkshire Ambulance Service.  This did not meet last year, although a broader discussion with HSC took place on a number of concerns raised with the Trust, which has prompted further work for 2020-21.

HSC Members were also asked to confirm if they wished to be part of the sub-group to scrutinise Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework performance. 

Resolved:-

1)    That the Health Select Commission approve the work programme for 2020-21 as set out in Appendix 1.

2)    That the proposed membership for the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust and Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust quality sub-groups be confirmed, subject to any Membership changes agreed at Council on 22 July 2020.

3)    That Members inform the Governance Advisor if they wish to be included in either of the remaining sub-groups for Yorkshire Ambulance Service and/or the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework.

4)    To note that should any urgent items emerge during the year this may necessitate a review and re-prioritisation of the work programme.

The Chair confirmed that this item was one of two deferred from the previous meeting due to the comprehensive scrutiny of care homes.  The paper followed up on recommendations made by HSC when they had scrutinised these two important plans and showed how the feedback from Scrutiny was reflected in the final versions and in planned work. 

Resolved:-

To note progress with recommendations made previously on the Rotherham Suicide Prevention and Self Harm Action Plan and the Rotherham Loneliness Action Plan.

The Chair confirmed that this briefing had also been deferred from the previous meeting.  It was a short paper for information that brought together several requests for follow up information from items scrutinised last year, together with progress on a number of recommendations from Scrutiny.  The Select Commission would be able to revisit any outstanding issues in the course of the work programme for 2020-21.

Resolved: –

Health Select Commission to note the information contained in the briefing.

To consider any item(s) which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair advised that there was one matter of urgent business to discuss at the meeting.  This was to congratulate Governance Advisor Janet Spurling on her imminent retirement and to thank her for her work in supporting the Health Select Commission.

The next meeting of the Health Select Commission will be a virtual meeting held on Thursday 10 September 2020 commencing at 2pm. 

Resolved:- That the next meeting of the Health Select Commission take place on Thursday 10 September 2020, commencing at 2.00 p.m. as a virtual meeting.