To receive updates from the Chairs of the Select Commission on work undertaken and planned for the future.
Minutes:
The Vice-Chair of the Improving Lives Select Commission noted they had met on the 17th September and presented with the outcomes of the Ofsted focus visit. He informed Members that the outcomes from the Ofsted report did not rate the focus visit as ‘outstanding.’ However, the Vice-Chair believed from his own experience with Ofsted, that the wording and findings within the report actually indicated many outstanding individual aspects which had been identified by Ofsted. However, he stated that previous assessments were based on the old framework, which had since been replaced by a new framework, which eliminated single word judgements.
The Vice-Chair informed OSMB, that the next meeting of Improving Lives Select Commission on the 21st of October, would be a consultation workshop on the ‘SEND Strategy’. This hybrid meeting, scheduled from 11 till 12.30pm, would be led by the Head of Commissioning Performance & Quality, Cary-Anne Sykes.
Additionally, the Vice-Chair informed Members that on the 29th of October, the Rotherham Safeguarding Children's Partnership Annual report and the Safeguarding Adults Board report would be presented. These presentations would be attended by representatives from the South Yorkshire Police and the Interim Care Board.
The Vice Chair of the Health Select Commission, Councillor Yasseen provided a review of the work that had taken place since the election. One of the key highlights of the work programme was the ‘Oral Health’ review, which was the first time the Council included oral health in the Commission's work, and it would be reviewed on an annual basis.
In July, the Health Select Commission worked on a South Yorkshire-wide approach to oral health and the Commission decided that it would need to revisit this, to review the recommendations which had been made 12 to 18 months ago. It was agreed by Members that, given the progress over the past 18 months, that the recommendations needed to be reviewed to ensure they were still relevant and appropriate.
The Vice-Chair informed Members that another key area on the Health Select’s agenda was the Integrated Care Board (ICB), the new system for managing and delivering health services across South Yorkshire, which replaced the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group). A primary focus for the Health Select Commission, would be to ensure that ICB decision continued to have community influence and input.
Regarding the last meeting by the Health Select Commission, which focused on the NHS, Rotherham Trust Annual Report and Accounts, the Vice-Chair stated the Commission found significant health outcomes delivered by Rotherham Trust and noted progressive responses to government shifts on areas such as the four-hour emergency response window. She stated that while national targets were not being met due to increased demand for emergency care in Rotherham, the response times were something which needed continuous review.
Additionally, the Vice-Chair highlighted other notable findings identified from the report. One key point was the potential, ‘mothballing’ of some hospital accommodation. She suggested that the Council should consider this as an opportunity from a housing perspective, instead of building houses on green spaces. The Health Select Commission wanted to support a decision on how the Council could work with its NHS partner to potentially acquire that land, which was a potential outcome identified from the meeting.
Finally, the Vice-Chair informed commission members that the Health Select Commission received a presentation from Health Watch, a community representative body in Rotherham, which identified key priorities, including access to GP appointments as an annual priority.