Agenda and minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 July 2024 as a true and correct record of the proceedings and to be signed by the Chair.

Resolved:-

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2024 be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

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

The following declarations of interest were made:-

Councillor Garnett did not participate in the consideration of this item as a result of the disclosed interest and retired from the Chamber.

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

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

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

There were no items of business on the agenda which required the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting.

To receive information from Kym Gleeson, Manager, Healthwatch Rotherham about her role and that of Healthwatch in the context of the Health Select Commission.

The Chair welcomed Kym Gleeson, Manager, Healthwatch Rotherham and Andrea McCann, Engagement Officer, Healthwatch Rotherham to the meeting.

The Healthwatch Manager explained that the structure of Healthwatch was similar to the structure of the NHS, with Healthwatch England sat above the 153 local Healthwatch offices in the UK. They set out Healthwatch’s recently amended values; equity, collaboration, independence, truth and impact and explained the various models under which Healthwatch operated.

As Healthwatch England was now 10 years old, the operating model was to undergo evaluation to ensure that this reflected the best offer and to improve consistency.

Rotherham Healthwatch was hosted by Citizen’s Advice, which was felt to offer additional benefits enabling those who consulted Healthwatch to simultaneously access other information and support services through Citizen’s advice without the delay of a separate referral and intervention.

Notwithstanding the benefits of co-location and collaboration, Healthwatch Rotherham remained a totally independent service, with their own strategic board steering work and the development of priorities.

The service received enquiries from individuals or relatives of individuals seeking elements of care or support with a health condition.  All enquiries were recorded anonymously, collated, and channelled appropriately. Healthwatch were also involved in the task and finish group to refresh the Health and Wellbeing strategy, ensuring that the voice and concerns of Rotherham residents were at its heart.

Healthwatch delivered ‘Let’s Talk’ sessions in conjunction with community partners on topics of their choosing, including a CPR information session recently delivered in collaboration with Yorkshire Ambulance Service which provided reassurances to a heart support group regarding ambulance availability, call categorisation, CPR and defibrillation processes.

Andrea McCann had been upskilled to enable her to train community groups and empower them to become community ambassadors supporting specific groups such as those living with Diabetes. Healthwatch had also worked with public health to deliver sessions on smoking and vaping to college students.  Further information concerning this work was accessible via the Healthwatch Rotherham website.

Healthwatch conducted ‘enter and view’ work, under powers still not fully understood by many health and social care services, which could only be refused by the subject service where it would significantly adversely impact delivery. In order to justify an enter and view visit, Healthwatch must have significant intelligence and cannot randomly select visit subjects. Visits this year had included a care home and a GP practice.

It was stressed that Healthwatch worked in partnership with services, with such visits providing constructive criticism and feedback enabling services to understand the experiences of service users. Subjects received advanced notice of planned visits, and they were shared publicly with QR codes and other media encouraging wider public engagement and the completion of questionnaires. These were shared with both staff and service users.

Reports and recommendations were shared with the organisations visited prior to publication to provide them with the opportunity to refute or otherwise comment on the findings, in the interest of fairness.

Healthwatch Rotherham was a small team dealing with a broad scope of health and social care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

To receive and consider the annual report from The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT) in respect of actions, challenges, and achievements of the Trust for the financial year ending 31 March 2024.

In light of the declaration of personal interest made by Councillor Garnett, they left the Chamber during consideration of this item.

The Chair welcomed Michael Wright, Managing Director, Sally Kilgraff, Chief Operating Officer and Helen Dobson, Chief Nurse, TRFT to the meeting and invited them to deliver the presentation.

The TRFT Managing Director advised the Commission that 2023/24 had been an exceptional year in terms of demands on the Trust’s services, with the Trust managing a number of challenges and delivering successes, nonetheless.

Chief Nurse Helen Dobson explained that there had been significant improvements in relation to a range quality and patient experience issues over the previous twelve months, with emphasis and investment on continuous quality improvement with a programme of training supporting staff enablers driving improvements in infection prevention and control, resulting in shortlisting for a national award in this area.

Intrinsic to the ability to deliver high quality care was a stable and well-trained workforce. There had been huge successes in this area within midwifery and support workers, with significant improvements in retention and almost all vacancies filled.  Emphasis was shifting from internationally educated nurses to local recruitment, including the ReSTORE programme which sought to integrate the refugee population with existing nursing qualifications from their home countries into the local healthcare system.

They outlined work undertaken through staff networks to promote and enhance diversity and inclusion, with TRFT preparing to hold its second annual cultural celebration event. This work had also resulted in a nomination for a national award.

TRFT had begun to introduce a series of ‘joy in work’ events, drawing on research which reflected that staff who were happy and enjoyed their jobs would be more productive.  Events had a health oriented underlying themes as well as boosting morale, productivity and creating healthy competition between teams.  The next planned event was veteran’s awareness, linked to remembrance Sunday in November 2025.

The Trust had introduced a clinical accreditation programme over the last year which assessed a broad range of domains, allowing best practice to be identified. 

Patient experience had also been a focus with a number of innovative initiatives implemented, some of which had drawn national attention, all with the aim of making time in hospital a more pleasant and dignified experience.  The in-patient survey conducted produced data which identified the Trust as the most improved of 70 organisations who used that provider, and when compared with CQC (Care Quality Commission) Data the Trust were amongst the 7 most improved Trust’s in England. 

They acknowledged that there was still more work to be done to improve patient experience but cited that the Trust’s focus was on being the best at getting better for the time being.  In order to do this, the Trust had drawn information from a range patient experience data from a range of sources such as complaints and Healthwatch. For the coming year, the Trust would focus on the launch of a patient advice and liaison service and a carers charter and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To consider the Health Select Commission’s work programme for 2024-2025.

Resolved:-

That the Health Select Commission:

1. Approved the work programme.

2. Agreed to undertake full scoping and prioritisation of the three items under consideration for a full review as identified in the work programme, and agreed to convene a meeting for this purpose.

3. Agreed that the Governance Advisor be authorised to make any required changes to the work programme in consultation with the Chair/Vice Chair and reporting any such changes back to the next meeting for endorsement.

To receive and consider the minutes and recommendations of the South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC).

The JHOSC meeting scheduled to take place on 5 September 2024 was rescheduled and is now due to take place on 10 October 2024.

As such, there are no minutes or recommendations to receive on this occasion.

Resolved:-

That the Health Select Commission:

1.    Noted the postponement of the 5 September South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.

2.    Noted that an update and minutes from the rescheduled meeting on 10 October 2024 would be brought to the to 21 November 2024 Health Select Commission meeting.

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

The Chair requested that Members consider the current pre-meeting schedule and whether this was prohibitive to participation and to share views with the Governance Advisor for collation and consideration, noting that any suggestions would be welcomed.