Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Room M72, 7th Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Amanda Thompson, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4651, E-mail: Amanda.Thompson@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ann Jackson and Lutfa Begum.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 25 KB To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Chief Executive.
Minutes: Councillor Bill Turner declared a personal interest in agenda item 4.1 as he was a member of the East London NHS Foundation Trust.
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 45 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of Health Scrutiny Panel held on 14 October 2008. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2008 were agreed as a correct record.
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MATTERS ARISING Minutes: The Chair reported that the Committee had been expecting a report concerning the PCT’s commissioning Intentions for 2009/10, but this had not been received.
The Chair requested that the Health Scrutiny Panel be given the opportunity to comment on these once the report was available.
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Introduction to East London NHS Foundation Trust Members PDF 37 KB Dinah Morley and Peter Nichol - ELNFT Council Members.
(10 minutes) Minutes: Received a report from Dinah Morley and Peter Nichol, ELFT Council Members, concerning the East London NHS Foundation Trust - a mental health trust set up in 2007 which brought together mental health services to the City of London, the London Boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham, and largely replacing the East London Mental Health Trust.
The Panel noted that the Trust provided a range of community, outpatient and inpatient services for children and young people, adults and older people, as well as some specialist mental health services to North London.
In order to provide a direct relationship between the ELFT and the Health Scrutiny Panel, and enable both ELFT elected members and LBTH elected members to be more effective in representing the mental health needs of residents in the Borough, it was agreed that two members of the ELFT Members Council be invited to attend all future meetings of the Health Scrutiny Panel.
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THINk - Update on the Tower Hamlets Involvement Network Dianne Barham – Director, THINk
(15 minutes) Minutes: Received an update from Dianne Barham, Director of the Tower Hamlets Involvement Network (THINk), a local consultation scheme which had been set up in every area of England to help people influence or change the way their local NHS and social care services were delivered.
THINk members were local residents, key stakeholders and organisations from across Tower Hamlets, who would be given the opportunity to help influence the design, review and development of health and social care services.
THINk was independent of the Council and the NHS and had the authority to ask service providers for responses to questions, and members would also be able to visit the services themselves in order to get the views of the people that used them. It could then either feed those views back or refer issues to the Health Scrutiny Panel, or the various Health Care Commissions.
Arising from the discussion Ms Barham then responded to questions:
The Chair thanked Ms Barham for her contribution to the meeting and for providing an opportunity for elected Members to also get involved and provide their support.
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Barts and the London NHS Trust Update on Annual Health Check Results 2007/08 Matthew Hopkins – Chief Operating Officer, Barts and the London NHS Trust Minutes: Matthew Hopkins – Chief Operating Officer, Barts and the London NHS Trust, provided an update on the Annual health Check Results for 2007/2008.
He reported that the Trust had scored ‘Good’ for Use of Resources, but had dropped down from ‘Excellent’ to ‘Fair ‘for Quality of Services. The reasons for this were due to the Accident and Emergency staff being under pressure due to the high number of trauma patients, high level of infection rates, and the targets for referrals from GP’s not being met.
The Trust had also undergone some radical changes as a result of a management restructure, and had also been one of the first NHS Trusts in the country to implement the new national electronic patients records system, both of which had created a lot of difficulties and required further embedding.
The problems with the implementation of the new IT system had impacted on the scores for the management of patient records, as well as affecting patient appointments. The Trust was working with GP’s to try and address this, and was also providing further staff training on the new system.
Mr Hopkins also reported that the new London Hospital was on schedule to open in Spring 2012, and a new cancer centre would open at Barts in twelve month’s time. Both hospitals would also function as ‘major trauma’ sites.
During the next year the Trust would be focusing on improving maternity services and palliative care, as well as improving administrative systems and customer access.
In response to a number of questions Mr Hopkins advised that:
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PCT Managed Practices - Consultation PDF 30 KB Charlotte Fry – Associate Director, Primary Care Commissioning, THPCT
(25 minutes) Minutes: Charlotte Fry – Associate Director, Primary Care Commissioning, Tower Hamlets PCT (THPCT), provided a report detailing the public consultation exercise concerning PCT managed practices which had been brought about by the PCT Board decision to allow it’s directly managed GP practices and associated staff to become independent of the PCT.
The Panel noted that THPCT was unusual in directly managing six local practices, despite not having the appropriate expertise. The normal function of the PCT was to manage the GP contract, not the services themselves. Furthermore many practices had expressed a desire to become independent and manage themselves.
The consultation had been designed for patients at All Saints, Barkantine, East One Health and the Whitechapel Health Centre, and would take place for two months with feedback expected in April 2009.
Members of the Panel questioned the value of the exercise and asked whether practices could remain as they were if this was what the patients wished? Ms Fry advised that all the comments would be passed onto the Steering Group.
The Panel asked for a report back on the outcome of the consultation exercise.
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Emergency Dental Services Review - North East London PDF 39 KB Vivienne Cencora – Associate Director, THPCT
(20 minutes) Minutes: Bernadette Beckett, THPCT, provided an update on the review of Emergency Dental Services which was being taken forward for consultation with residents and stakeholders within the North East London Boroughs. The aim was to ensure that the future delivery of emergency dental services within North East London met the needs of the community and ensure there were no gaps in provision.
A Steering Group had been set up to oversee the implementation of activity, and a representative of THINk had also been invited to participate in this group.
The Chair asked that the consultation document be sent to Members of the Panel and that a report back be provided.
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Healthcare for London - Update on Progress PDF 57 KB Jeremy Gardner – Head of Communications and Engagement, THPCT
(20 minutes) Minutes: Jeremy Gardner, THPCT, advised the Panel that the NHS was required to consult on the proposals contained in Lord Darzi’s plans for the future of health care in London. A joint committee of PCT’s had been established to manage the consultation.
The Panel noted that London PCT’s would be consulting on the proposals around acute stroke and major trauma services, and the Chair had been appointed to represent the Council on the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
In response to a question concerning the separation of immediate and aftercare provision, Mr Gardner advised that this would not be the case in Tower Hamlets as it had the best services, although it would be in other Boroughs.
It was agreed that the Health Scrutiny Panel would submit a formal response to the consultation.
The meeting ended at 9.00 p.m
Chair, Councillor Stephanie Eaton Health Scrutiny Panel
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