Agenda and minutes

To be notified of the appointment of Substitute Members.

Pursuant to the Council's Constitution, the appointment of the following substitute members was reported.

Cllr J O’Shea for Cllr P Richardson

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To Confirm the minutes of the meeting held on

In relation to the minutes, Cllr J Shaw indicated that she would like some additional information included in the minutes to reflect the robust discussion in relation to minute ASCH42/41. 

The following amendments were put to the meeting:

para 7 – to add “Concern was expressed by members that evidence existed to suggest that current demand for mental health services provided by the Trust’s CAMHS service and the CNTW to patients attending the Trust’s hospitals, is effectively only available to individuals who are at risk of self-harm and/or suicide.

Para 9 – to be amended to read ‘Members welcomed the focus on staff wellbeing and addressing health inequalities in relation to staff, but also highlighted the need for the Trust’s management to support staff by e.g. ensuring they did not miss breaks or require them to work excessive hours’

To also record that Cllr J Shaw made a strong statement of concern regarding the overall state of the NHS at the present time during the discussion in this part of the meeting.

Cllr L Arkley stated that she did not recall all of these points being made and wished to have it recorded that she did not agree that the minutes be amended, but that these points be recorded as an addition to the minutes.

Following a vote it was resolved that the above amendments to the minutes be agreed.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 March 2022, as amended, be confirmed and signed by the Chair. 

To receive a Covid update in relation to Health and Adult Social Care.

The Director of Public Health provided a presentation which set out the current position in relation to Covid and also included an update on Monkey Pox.

It was noted that specific interventions for COVID-19 have now been replaced with general public health measures and guidance following the end of universal free testing and contact tracing.  It was noted that protecting the vulnerable remains a priority with asymptomatic and symptomatic testing for NHS and care homes and home adult social care services, symptomatic testing for vulnerable individuals, access to treatments and a continued focus on vaccination.  There is an expectation of an Autumn booster for over 65s and vulnerable people.

It was noted that there were early signs of a possible increase in the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19, likely caused by increases in infections compatible with Omicron variants BA.1, BA.4 and BA.5.  In England, the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 equates to 1.46% of the population or around 1 in 70 people. The ONS Infection Survey provides data on a regional level, but unfortunately is not able to provide detailed data at local authority level.  It was also noted that hospital admission data for the North East and Yorkshire is showing a small increase from a low level.

It was noted that the local authority has had a systems leadership role throughout the pandemic.  It was noted that the specific COVID-19 Engagement Board has been stood down, but the COVID-19 Health Protection Board is continuing as a general health protection board with a full range of partners looking at surveillance, response and management of infectious disease generally across the borough, including COVID-19.  There is a continued focus on the vulnerable, in particular work with care homes to manage and respond to outbreaks of infectious disease including COVID-19.  Work is also continuing to promote vaccination uptake and to focus on tackling the inequalities that have been amplified by the pandemic.

There was some discussion about vaccination rates, and it was noted that vaccination rates in the borough are high but there are some large variations between wards reflecting wider health inequality issues.  It was noted that the vaccination continued to be offered and the local authority had been ringing people to encourage take-up, but this had probably reached a saturation point.  Members highlighted some of the positive actions taken to encourage vaccination in harder to reach groups and BME communities.  It was noted that some of the lessons learned throughout the pandemic in encouraging vaccine take up were being adapted by other programmes such as breast screening.

Members raised some specific issues about access to the spring booster in some areas of the borough, particularly in relation to older house-bound residents.  The Sub-committee was advised that it was no longer sustainable to continue with extensive outreach work in relation to the booster vaccine as central government funding was no longer available to support this.  However, it was hoped that the position for the Autumn booster would  ...  view the full minutes text for item ASCH4/22

To receive an update on the Autism Strategy.

The item was deferred to a future meeting.

To consider suggestions for the work programme 2022-23 for the Adult Social Care, Health and Welbeing Sub-committee.

The Sub-committee considered the draft work programme for 2022-23 and the suggestions received for items to consider across the year.

The Sub-committee identified the following items as priority items:

•           Access to Dentistry services in North Tyneside – NHS England to be invited to provide information from a commissioning perspective.

•           Recruitment and Retention/Training and Support for Care Staff via the Care Academy – this may be something to consider on a cross committee basis.

It was agreed that the Work Programme be drafted based on the above priorities and the additional suggestions contained in the report.