Agenda item

Outline work programme for 2020-21 for discussion.

Janet Spurling, Governance Advisor introduced an initial draft of the Health Select Commission’s work programme for 2020-21 for discussion.  The work programme needed to address key policy and performance agendas, with a clear emphasis on adding value, leading to improved outcomes for the people of Rotherham.  It should also be focused on issues that Scrutiny would be able to influence.

Central to the work programme would be transformation of health and social care services, a longstanding and continuing focus for Scrutiny over several years.  NHS provider performance would be scrutinised through the Quality Reports and updates in respect of particular service areas.  Adult Care and Public Health Outcome Frameworks enabled progress in Rotherham to be gauged year on year and benchmarked nationally and regionally.  Addressing health inequalities in the borough, through health and social care strategies and plans, and by looking at the wider determinants of health, was an issue that the Select Commission had frequently highlighted and would continue to explore.  In addition, the work programme would have to take account of the response to and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The initial work programme in Appendix 1 reflected agenda items on which the Health Select Commission had requested progress reports for 2020-21 in order to scrutinise the impact of recent service or policy changes, such as Ophthalmology Services.  It also included items delegated from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board for monitoring, such as the impact of implementation of the new Home Care and Support Services Contract.

More direct public involvement in scrutiny work was acknowledged as an area to develop further and HSC expected to see qualitative evidence of the impact of service changes and transformation, in addition to the quantitative data and metrics.

Key priorities in the work programme would include:

-   Intermediate Care and Reablement

-   Depression and Mental Health

-   Support for Carers

-   Covid-19 Response and Recovery

-   Respiratory Services

-   Residential and Nursing Care Homes

It was noted that membership of the Quality Sub-groups for each of the NHS Trust Providers would be based on the previous year’s membership to retain the knowledge developed by Members of those health partners’ services.

Following discussion, it was agreed to undertake a spotlight review of issues arising from the impact of Covid-19 on adult and older people’s mental health later in the year, linking in with the preliminary information on prevalence of depression scrutinised the previous year.

The Chair proposed that the meeting in July should be a standard formal meeting if items could be brought forward, with scrutiny of issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic to be considered in a separate in-depth workshop session, with the outcomes reported back at the next meeting in September.

Resolved:-

1)    That the initial work programme be noted with the priorities agreed for 2020-21 as discussed.

2)    That the July meeting be a formal meeting to include agenda items that could be brought forward.

3)    That a workshop session be arranged in July for scrutiny of issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.