Agenda and minutes

To be notified of the appointment of any Substitute Members.

Pursuant to the Council's Constitution, the appointment of the following substitute member was reported:

Cllr J O’Shea for Cllr P Richardson

The following interests were declared:

Cllr L Miller declared a registerable personal interest in all items in relation to his role as Chair of Tyne Health and Managing Director of the GP Federation.

To Confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2019.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2019 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

•           Cllr Gary Bell - Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care

•           Cllr Margaret Hall - Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

Cllr Gary Bell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, was in attendance and gave an introduction to the Sub-committee on his role and the areas within his remit.  He highlighted a main issue currently related to budget issues around care package costs, including the financial impact of increasing complexity of care and Living Wage costs.  He also highlighted positive developments around transitions of care, shared lives, and adults with learning difficulties in the community.  He indicated that he was happy to offer shadowing opportunities to members of the Sub-committee if anyone is interested.  He wished the Sub-committee well in its work over the coming year and stressed that he was happy to come back to the committee with more information as required.

Cllr Margaret Hall, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, was in attendance and gave an introduction to the Sub-committee on her role and the areas within her remit.  She thanked the Sub-committee for the opportunity to speak.  She highlighted that public health is a statutory duty.  She also highlighted her role as chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board; a statutory board with a duty to produce a joint health and wellbeing strategy each year.  She highlighted some of the priorities of the Board, including the eight objectives in the strategy.  She also highlighted other issue of interest, including SEND inspections, Integrated Care Systems, GP Networks and the role of Active North Tyneside and leisure interests as a way of addressing mental health issues.

There was some discussion about the delay to the governments green paper on Social Care.  I was noted that some additional funding had been made available via ‘winter pressures funding’ but this was not enough to address budget issues in this area.

To receive a report providing background information and an update on the Better Care Fund. 

The Sub-committee considered the report on the Better Care Fund (BCF).

The Sub-committee noted that the national Better Care Fund Policy Framework had been published in April 2019.  It was noted that both the framework and the NHS Long Term Plan had a focus on integrated care. 

It was noted that 2019/20 would be a year of minimal change for the BCF although detailed guidance is still awaited.  However there was a change in that local authorities will be required to pool Winter Pressures funding in the BCF in 2019/20.

Ministers’ are holding a review of the BCF.  Any major changes arising from that review will take place from 2020 onwards.

It was noted that delayed transfers of care in North Tyneside are below the national average.  However, non-elective admissions have been above the BCF trajectory.

There was some discussion about delayed transfers of care and it was noted that North Tyneside have had targets around this for a long time, and prior to the introduction of the BCF, but these had been local rather than national targets.  It was highlighted that length of stay can sometimes be more of a concern for patients than delayed transfers.

The Chair thanked officers for the report.

To consider the report setting out a draft work programme for 2019-20. 

Members considered the report which set out a draft work programme for the Sub-committee for 2019-20.

The Chair highlighted that in additional to the work programme, there may be an opportunity to establish a study group to undertake a ‘deep dive’ in relation to a specific area of work identified by the Sub-committee, subject to available resources.

Members were asked to forward any additional ideas for the work programme via democratic services over the next two weeks.

Cllr O’Shea highlighted that work had begun at a recent meeting in relation to the provision of care services and it was noted that a further report on this had been requested for the next meeting in July.

To note proposed changes to regional arrangements for health scrutiny.

Members noted the report which set out some changes to arrangements for joint health scrutiny with other local authorities in the region.  It was noted that Joint STP Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the north of the region would continue with a focus on scrutiny of the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) and relevant Integrated Care Partnerships (ICP) and organisational arrangements as appropriate.  It may be necessary to change the name of this joint committee to reflect the move from STPs to ICSs.

Members noted the members that had been appointed as representatives and substitutes to this joint Committee.  Members would be asked to provide feedback to the Sub-committee following each joint scrutiny meeting. 

The Sub-committee noted the report.

To receive a verbal update from Paul Jones, Director, Healthwatch North Tyneside.

Paul Jones, Director, Healthwatch North Tyneside attended the meeting to present the planned work programme for Healthwatch over the next 6 to 12 months.

Paul explained the objective of Healthwatch to be the independent voice of the residents of North Tyneside in relation to health services.  He highlighted that recently they had been focussing on gathering a broad base of evidence on the services people are using and their views on the services via survey’s and focus groups.  They had been successful in gathering views from a wide range of people and were using this information to identify priorities for the work programme.

Paul highlighted that the key issues over the coming year would be:

•           Cancer Services

•           Older People’s mental health

•           Access to GP services

•           NHS111

•           Emergency Department at Cramlington and Rake Lane

It was noted that Healthwatch had also been contracted for some additional pieces of research including:

•           Undertaking surveys and focus groups around the NHS Long Term Plan;

•           Meaningful life experiences in care homes;

•           Adult social care services.

There was some discussion about how agencies have responded to reports and findings from Healthwatch.  It was highlighted that the CCG and Trusts had been positive about recent recommendations put forward and Healthwatch would be following up with agencies to make sure changes were implemented and were having a positive impact.

Members highlighted the role of pharmacies and asked whether any research was planned in relation to how people are using pharmacies.  It was noted that some research relating to pharmacies had been undertaken in recent years, but no further work was planned on pharmacies over the current year.

The Sub-committee noted the extensive programme of work that had been outlined and thanked Paul Jones for his presentation.

Noted for information