Agenda and minutes
Venue: Room C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Elizabeth Dowuona, Democratic Services
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DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS PDF 70 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 Monitoring Officer.
Minutes: David Burbidge and Tim Oliver declared a personal interest in Item 3.3 Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Review as volunteers at Healthwatch Tower Hamlets. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING(S) PDF 109 KB To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Health Scrutiny Panel held on 9 December 2015. Minutes: That the minutes of the Health Scrutiny Panel held on 9 December 2015 be approved as a correct record of the proceedings. |
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Maternity Services at Royal London - CQC Inspection PDF 45 KB Presentation from Max Geraghty, (Inspection Manager, Care Quality Commission)
The report provides an overview of the Care Quality Commission’s findings from their most recent inspection of the Royal London maternity & gynaecology services.
Additional documents:
Minutes: Max Geraghty provided the Panel with an overview of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) findings from their most recent inspection of the Royal London maternity & gynaecology services and informed the Panel of the following: -
· CQC makes sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourages care services to improve; · CQC monitors, inspects and regulates services to make sure it meets fundamental standards of quality and safety and publishes its findings, including performance ratings to help people choose care; · CQC is introducing ratings to tell whether an organisation and its main services are outstanding, good, requires improvement or is inadequate; · CQC publishes reports after every inspection setting out what it has found and includes examples of good practice as well as areas for improvement; · The CQC asks five key questions on all inspections:
The Chair, Councillor Amina Ali invited the representatives from the Royal London Maternity Services to respond to the CQC report.
Sandra Reading (Director of Midwifery) and Deborah Kelly (Deputy Chief Nurse), provided a written response to the CQC report and highlighted the following key actions – ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Primary Care Strategy PDF 41 KB Presentation from Jane Milligan, (Chief Officer, Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group)
This report details the Primary Care strategy and presents an update from Tower Hamlets CCG on how the implementation of this strategy is developing. Additional documents: Minutes: Jenny Cooke (Deputy Director of Primary Care) provided the Panel with an overview of the Primary Care in Tower Hamlets and informed the Panel of the following: -
· In February 2015 THCCG successfully applied to take on fully delegated responsibility for the commissioning of primary medical services in the Borough; · Since April 2015, THCCG has assumed responsibility for the commissioning, procurement, management and monitoring or primary medical services contracts, with the on-going support of NHS England; · A Primary Care Committee has been established to over-see the delegated functions and manage conflicts of interest; · Co-Commissioning has the opportunity to lead to greater consistency between outcome measures and incentives used in primary care services and wider out of hospital services; · Challenges – o Population is growing rapidly; o Patient experience remains a challenge; o A need for care to become better integrated; o Workforce deficit with nursing recruitment problems; and o Financial. · Response – o Building resilience in GP; and o Primary Care Transformation.
Members considered the presentation and made the following comments –
· Does Public Health link into Primary Care? · Public Health is all about prevention e.g. smoking cessation, it is not about advertising services, but moreso about improving health in the community. · The Local Plan is about planning for the future, 15-20years ahead, so there are challenges to be faced in the future in the health sector with systems and finance. It is a good opportunity to feed into the Local Plan now for the future wellbeing of the community.
Dr Sam Everington commented that major funding is an issue, but most TH GPs enjoy working in the Borough, however, most practices are struggling to recruit at the moment. He also stated that GPs are choosing to retire early in comparison to 10 years ago when GPs would work till around 80 years old, but now are going abroad or even to Scotland and Wales where there is no CQC inspection. The Borough has a different population now and needs a new model of working.
Dr Isabel Hodkinson commented that information is gathered based upon electronic record from GP Practices and that data is now fully electronic through a very sophisticated “vanguard board”. You can even book your own appointment and see your own medical records and it is the intention to move to “real time” data in the future.
Jenny Cooke commented that Public Health was already involved in Primary Care.
RESOLVED THAT the presentation be noted.
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Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Review PDF 87 KB
To receive a report from Sarah Vallelly (Strategy, Policy and Performance Officer)
The report provides an update on the council’s current review of Healthwatch Tower Hamlets (HWTH). The aim of the review is to develop a model for HWTH which builds on existing strengths, identifies areas of improvement and incorporates good practice from other local Healthwatch organisations. The review findings will inform the retender of the Healthwatch contract.
Minutes: Sarah Vallelly (Strategy, Policy and Performance Officer) provided the Panel with an outline of the methodology for the review and timetable for reporting on the findings and commissioning of the new Healthwatch Tower Hamlets (HWTH) contract and informed the Panel of the following –
· The aim of the review is to develop a model for HWTH which builds on existing strengths, identifies areas of improvement and incorporates good practice from other local HW organisations; · The existing contract was due to expire on 31st March 2016 but this has now been extended by one year till 1st April 2017; · HWTH undertakes the following key activities – o Provides information, sign-posting and advice to the public about accessing health and social care services and choice in relation to aspects of those services; o Obtains the views of people about their needs for and experience of local care services and makes those views known to those involved in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of care services; o Promote and supports the involvement of people in the monitoring, commissioning and provision of local care services; o Influence the commissioning and provision of services through producing evidence-based reports and recommendations about how those services could or should be improved; o Local HW have a statutory seat on the local Health & Wellbeing Board to help them to do this effectively; o Makes the views and experiences of people known to Healthwatch England helping it to carry out its role as national champion; and o Makes recommendations to HW England to advise the Care Quality Commission to carry out special reviews or investigations into areas of concern
Members considered the report and made the following comments –
· There is a need to reflect on what HW currently do and whether there is an opportunity to do more deeper and specific work and if there is a capacity to do it e.g. the work in maternity services currently underway; · Not many residents know about HW, so how can they advertise more and promote their services better; · HW has a rich insight into the patient experience so can suggest ways to improve it and make the service better with practical ideas; and · There is an opportunity to develop the capacity in HW through future funding by commissioning contracts.
Dr Isabel Hodkinson suggested that each GP must complete a 6 week check on new-born babies and that consult could be used to complete a form or fill in a survey about their experiences on the maternity unit or to raise awareness about HW, parental smoking and breastfeeding etc.
David Burbidge commented that HWTH has 1 director and 1.5 staff, with a small budget and a large remit. He also stated that HWTH has no resources to advertise its services, but they usually do a “tea poster campaign” and some advertising within the Council and through the HW website. Each HW across England is managed differently based upon resources and capacity. Council Tax bills will also be circulated to ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT Minutes: Somen Banerjee informed the Panel that Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs should be invited to future Health Scrutiny Panel meetings to observe/for input, and that the Panel should consider looking into the relationship between the Health & Wellbeing Board and Health Scrutiny to ensure there isn't duplication and the remits / scope of the two groups are clear.
The Panel agreed.
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NEXT MEETING OF THE PANEL Minutes: The next meeting of the Health Scrutiny Panel will be held on Wednesday 20 April 2016 at 7.00pm in MP702, 7th Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG. |