Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Dr Peter Skolar. Councillor Anda Fitzgerald-O’Connnor substituted for Councillor Skolar.

Councillors Rose Stratford and Lawrie Stratford declared an interest as members of the Bicester Hospital League of Friends.

Councillor Jenny Hannaby declared an interest as a member of the Wantage Hospital League of Friends

Councillor Alison Thomson declared an interest as a member of the Faringdon Health and Social Care Group.

Councillor Val Smith declared that she is a member of the shadow Health and Well-being Board and has received confirmation that there is no conflict of interest whilst the board is in shadow form.

To approve the minutes (JHO3) of the meeting held on 19 January 2012 and to note for information any matters arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting on 19 January were agreed and signed subject to minor corrections.

The committee requested the latest figures for delayed transfers of care.

Following interviews the Chairman will propose Keith Ruddle be confirmed as a co-opted member of the committee alongside Dr Harry Dickinson and Anne Wilkinson.

The committee supported the appointment of Dr Keith Ruddle as a co-opted member of the committee and a further term of office for Dr Harry Dickinson and Anne Wilkinson.  

None

10.15

The Director of Public Health will provide the committee with his regular report on matters of relevance and interest to the committee, including an update on the Health and Well-being Board.

Dr Jonathan McWilliam presented details of the Health and Well-being Board and its supporting boards. Through the presentation and the ensuing discussion the following points were noted;

• There is a requirement that a shadow board was set up in December 2011 which will become live in April 2013.
• District representatives were nominated by the Leaders group and is handled on a rotating basis.
• Thames Valley Police are involved in the Community Safety Partnership and the Chief Fire Officer who chairs the community safety officer group sits on the Health Improvement Board to provide the link between these agendas.
• The requirement to manage and fund the board rests with the county council. The running costs of the supporting boards are met from existing resources.
• Commissioning support services for the Clinical Commissioning Group are being worked out and will likely be on a regional level. The CCG will have the funding to commission this so it should reflect our needs.
• Most people involved in commissioning services (including in public health) have a clinical background.
• There is scope to do more to pool budgets which are currently more aligned than truly pooled.
• The Health and Well-being board will consult on the strategy which will include scrutiny in late spring
• There will be NHS, social care and public health targets which will be based on local priorities.
• The Health and Well-being board will take the strategic overview with the supporting boards/ partner organisations responsible for commissioning of services.
• Improvement in outcomes is critical, local priorities will be set and reported on publicly.
• The ambulance service and other service providers cannot be members of the boards but are involved in the workshops which will be used to focus on detailed issues.
• HOSC members and other councillors should be invited to participate in workshops.
• Prevention will be key to the local authority role but there is always a tension with length of time for the return on investment.
• Scrutiny will continue to have an important role in scrutinising the new arrangements 

Jonathan McWilliam and Angela Baker undertook to update the committee on matters arising at the last meeting,

• Teenage conceptions – rates of teenage conceptions reduced in 2010 to 22 per 1000. The wards with highest rates are Grimsbury and Castle (Banbury), Northfield Brook, St Mary’s, Iffley Fields, Blackbird Leys (Oxford). Other areas of concern include parts of Witney, Didcot, Bicester. The need to reduce rates more in these areas was noted.
• Healthchecks for people with learning disabilities – this is an NHS Cluster responsibility. Approximately 2000 are eligble for annual healthchecks and 40% took these up last year although it is not known how many were offered.
• Tuberculosis and immigration – at airports the need for port of entry healthchecks are identified. It is not easy to be sure exactly whether all those identified can be followed up for screenings once they move on to their destination. In September 2011 561 people were offered screenings of which 138 were done. One case of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/12

10.45

Jonathan McWilliam, Director of Public Health will present a joint report (JHO7) from himself and the Chief Executive, Directors of Children Education and Families and Social & Community Services, Oxfordshire County Council.

Jonathan McWilliam and Angela Baker outlined the early thinking on the measures of success for the Health Improvement Board. In the discussion following these points were made,

• Requirements on immunisation could be made stronger such as to enter pre-school although it was acknowledged that this would need to be a national priority.
• Commonality across the county around the approach to housing could helpful as this is such a key factor. It is hoped that in making it a priority and the move of public health into local authorities join up can be improved.
• Involvement of housing associations in workshops was considered useful to pick up the issues.
• Different approaches to improving take up of healthcheck/screening services for hard to reach groups including men was considered important.
•  The focus on cancer screening for cervical, breast and bowel cancer was questioned. These types of cancer are prioritised as they relate to the larger number of deaths and priorities are based on where the greatest inequalities exist.

11.25

Aubrey Bell, Area Manager, South Central Ambulance Trust will present an update report (JHO8) on the Trust’s performance against the new indicator data.

Performance was last reported to the committee in September 2011 when it was requested that a further report be brought in 2012.

Members expressed their disappointment that South Central Ambulance Service had not managed to field someone to attend the meeting and AGREED to write to the Trust strongly requesting attendance at the next meeting in May.

Members requested detailed performance data on response times at the next meeting and were keen to discuss the increased demand for 999 response services and the reasons for it.

11.55

Ally Green, Transition Programme Lead, Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group will provide an update (JHO9) on the pilot First Aid Unit in Chipping Norton which has been operating since April 2011.

Ally Green and Alan Webb of the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group reported on the outcome of the pilot Chipping Norton First Aid Unit.

The pilot has received very positive feedback but the take up of the service had not been sufficient to ensure that it is financially sustainable. The PCT/CCG and South Central Ambulance Service which runs the Unit have decided to extend the pilot for a further two years to see if it can become sustainable. It is hoped that the planned move of GPs onto the site may enable the service to work differently and make it viable.

It was suggested that avoiding an overlap with GPs emergency provision would make the service more successful and noted that there are plans to co-ordinate with GPs.

It was noted that a key measure will be the impact on attendance at A&E and the use of other emergency services.  

The importance of NHS direct and the new 111 service referring people to the Unit was emphasised to promote awareness of the service. Promotion of the service through other local villages and GP practices is starting.

In response to a question about whether it is known how many attendances are missed as a result of the unit being closed due to an emergency call out it was noted that this is not possible to measure as the facility has to be locked up.

Cllr Seale commented that it is important to have plans in place in the event that the Unit is not viable at the end of the pilot.

It was AGREED that the committee members working with the CCG on the terms of the review of the Chipping Norton hospital staffing should also be involved in the development of measures of success for the First Aid Unit pilot.

The slightly misleading name for the service was noted and the likelihood of this changing to better reflect the nature of the service.

Ruth Atkins from the CCG agreed to bring forward details of the roll-out of the 111 non-emergency phone number to a future meeting.

12.10

The Chairman and scrutiny officer will present the draft 2012 work programme (JHO10) for the committee. Members are requested to bring forward any additional proposed items for consideration for inclusion.

Members considered the forward plan and proposed additional topics for consideration at future meetings. The items proposed are set out below. Further exploration of the items will be undertaken and future agendas scheduled.

·        Any performance concerns raised in PCT RAG (red amber green) reports

·        Health outcomes of the Asian population in Oxfordshire with a focus on the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities

·        Progress update on the Oxford University Hospital Trust including plans for Foundation Trust status, service enhancements and finances.

·        Cancellations of operations (data recently provided by Oxford University Hospitals)

·        Scheduling appointments/ patients ability to access services

·        Dementia services

·        Workshop style session on joint working between social care and community health

12.25

The regular update from the Oxfordshire LINk is attached (JHO11). Adrian Chant and Sue Butterworth from the LINk will be in attendance to answer any questions that members may have.

The regular LINk report was presented by Sue Butterworth and Adrian Chant. The recent successful Oxford Wheel event for user-led organisations was noted.

Cllr Smith asked what interaction LINk has with gypsy and traveller communities. Whilst LINk has not traditionally had links with these communities it is hoped that the Public Involvement Board under the Health and Wellbeing structures will do.

An update on the development of local Healthwatch was given. Co-operative futures is getting local voluntary and community sector organisations together to consider how to bid for services. Grants of up to £2,000 will be available to support organisations.

The Healthwatch service specification is expected to be ready in April.

12.40

The Chairman will report on meetings etc that have taken place since the previous HOSC meeting.

The Chairman reported that he had attended a meeting with the PCT in January along with Councillor Skolar. The move towards GP commissioning had been discussed.

12.50

The meeting closed at 13.50