Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chairman welcomed District Councillor Jo Robb to her first meeting as the new representative of South Oxfordshire District Council.

The Chairman also noted that this was the last meeting to be attended by Sam Shepherd, Policy Team Leader, who had supported the Committee for almost four years.  He thanked her on behalf of the Committee for her contribution to some very good achievements that the Committee has made for the people of Oxfordshire.  He also welcomed Steven Fairhurst Jones as the new policy officer to support the Committee.

Dr Alan Cohen is a trustee of Oxfordshire Mind.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2020 (JHO3a) and to receive information arising from them.

For ease of reference when considering the Matters Arising from the minutes, a list of actions is attached at the end of the minutes (JHO3b).

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2020 were approved with the following amendment:

On item 45/20 COVID-19 Research, the first sentence of the fifth bullet point to read

“Any side-effects from the vaccines were minor – similar to the flu vaccine – and were far out-weighed by the benefits.”

It was noted that the report of the OX12 Task and Finish Group was complete and should go on the agenda for the April meeting ahead of the discussion on community services and the new terms of reference.

This meeting will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9 am on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e. 9 am on Friday 29 January 2021. Requests to speak should be sent to colm.ocaomhanaigh@oxfordshire.gov.uk together with a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9 am 2 working days before the meeting.

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate virtually their written submission will be accepted.

The Chairman had agreed to the following requests to speak:

Councillor Jane Hanna on items 5, 6 and 9.

10:15

The Committee’s Forward Plan is attached for consideration.

The Chairman noted that a number of items that had been planned for the agenda for this meeting had been deferred to the April meeting in order to facilitate the system-wide update on COVID-19 and to avoid tying health and care workers up with writing reports during the current peak in the pandemic.

Prior to their consideration of this item, the Committee was addressed by Councillor Jane Hanna.

Councillor Hanna noted that the OX12 report had been discussed at other meetings such as the Growth Board.  It was expected to be on the agenda for this meeting but had been deferred to the April meeting, two months away.  The Wantage Health Committee had been meeting through the pandemic and was expecting to meet following this meeting to discuss proposals for OX12.  They needed clarity before the proposals are taken at the April meeting.

The Chairman responded that work continued on matters such as OX12 between HOSC meetings.  He stated that he was not surprised that the work of the OX12 group came up at other meetings given the excellent work done.  He had already explained that a number of items had been deferred to April, including OX12, as he was sure that Members would not want staff and other resources diverted from fighting the pandemic.

The Chairman also noted that the April meeting was scheduled just a couple of weeks before the County Council elections and stated that he would not accept purdah as a reason for not bringing an item to the April meeting.

10:20

A presentation to update on the key issues for the Oxfordshire system on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to their consideration of this item, the Committee was addressed by Councillor Jane Hanna.

Councillor Hanna noted that infection rates were still quite high in the Vale of White Horse area.  She welcomed the opening of a test facility at the Beacon in Wantage and asked the Director for Public Health if decisions on accessibility to that centre were made locally and if it could be opened to local residents as soon as possible as the OX12 report had shown that many residents do not have access to cars.

Representatives of the health and care partners across the county had been invited to update the Committee on the latest developments on COVID-19.  A presentation covered the following key areas:

·         Data and intelligence

·         Health and care sector

·         Vaccination programme

·         Community testing

·         Support for self-isolation

Ansaf Azhar, Director for Public Health, started the presentation with the latest data.  Since the new year almost 90% of the cases in Oxfordshire were of the new variant first detected in Kent.  This variant was more transmissible but not as virulent.  In the week ending 29 January, the Oxfordshire rate of new cases was down 36% on the previous week but the rates were still higher than the previous peak that led to the November lockdown.

He emphasised that the rates would increase very quickly if the lockdown was to be relaxed at this point.  The proportion of tests that were positive had reduced, showing that the reduction in new cases was not due to any reduction in testing.  The number of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients was coming down but, at 238, was still very high.  He also warned , as patients left acute hospitals, the pressures on community hospitals would peak.

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals (OUH), reported that, since she last spoke to the Committee in November, the work involved had included working at the BOB (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West) and South East levels.  Patients were being moved between areas when necessary to reduce risk.

She noted that normally there would be five areas operating critical care but there were now twelve areas.  The Churchill was still being maintained as a cancer services site.  The vaccination programme was being operated without any extra staff.  There was a strong team effort across all system partners.  They were now starting their People Recovery Plan which would range from staff who just need a few days leave to those possibly suffering Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Tehmeena Ajmal, Director of Community Services, Oxford Health, added that there had been a 46% increase in emergency referrals to the District Nursing Service as a result of the long recovery period from COVID-19.  It had been an extraordinary team effort and they were in a much better position than in the previous few months but it was clearly going to be a marathon effort.

Ansaf Azhar gave the figures for the numbers of deaths and noted that the numbers in the latest wave were lower than in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/21

12:00

Report on views of health care gathered by Healthwatch Oxfordshire.

The Committee had been asked to note the latest report from Healthwatch Oxfordshire on their collection of views from the public on health issues.

Rosalind Pearce, Chief Executive, updated the Committee on a number of points:

·         New outreach workers had started this week.

·         A report and video on Community Wellbeing will be presented to the March meeting of the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

·         Healthwatch England will take up the issue of publishing vaccination data for Oxfordshire with NHS England.

·         After the meeting she was going to the Kassam Stadium to observe the operation of the mass vaccination centre there and encourage members of the public there to return a questionnaire on their experience.  The next report to HOSC will include the results of that survey.

Councillor Susanna Pressel asked if meetings of the Board of BOB-ICS (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West – Integrated Care System) will be held in public.  The Chairman responded that this was his understanding – that it would be similar to clinical commissioning groups.

Rosalind Pearce added that Healthwatch would certainly want the meetings to be in public.  They had already flagged their concern at the lack of local public input at BOB level.  Healthwatch’s own board meetings were held in public and they also held a 30 minute public meeting before each board meeting so that members of the public could have a say as well as viewing the board meeting itself.

Councillor Pressel also asked if views of the public were being sought on test and trace.  Rosalind Pearce responded that she would add that to the list of items they might ask about.  She added that they were extending their period for organisations to feedback on their reports due to the pressures of COVID.  Often now they included the responses in the reports so that everything was available in one document.

12:15

To include an update on:

·         Health and social care liaison

·         Terms of Reference for a Task Group on community services.

·         Discussion reports following HOSC Committee Member research.

Prior to their consideration of this item, the Committee was addressed by Councillor Jane Hanna.

Councillor Hanna noted that the last meeting had endorsed two of the recommendations from the OX12 Task and Finish Group but took the other three recommendations as background comments.  She asked if that was still the Chairman’s position as she felt that it would be helpful for HOSC to endorse the three recommendations in advance of the item coming up again at the April meeting.

The Chairman responded that nothing had changed and that it was more a matter for the Forward Plan than the Chairman’s Report but that he would speak with Councillor Hanna on the matter after the meeting.

The Chairman noted that the Terms of Reference for a Task and Finish Group on Community Services had been deferred to the April meeting.  He confirmed that the report of the OX12 Task and Finish Group would be discussed at that meeting before the new Terms of Reference so that any relevant recommendations could be incorporated.

Barbara Shaw introduced the First Thirty Days report (Appendix 1) which was the outcome of a decision of the November meeting to gather information on the first thirty days of the pandemic and the impact of national decisions on the discharge of patients from acute hospitals.

The Director for Public Health and the Corporate Director for Adult and Housing Services met with Barbara Shaw and Dr Alan Cohen on the matter and she thanked them for their time.  The discussion expanded to include measures currently in place to protect people in care homes and the issue of stranded patients.  The report set out some suggestions for consideration by the Committee.

Stephen Chandler, Corporate Director for Adult and Housing Services, responded that the report contained an accurate account and was very helpful as a basis for discussion.

Councillor Alison Rooke asked if there were enough care workers available for the current and future increased demand for care in the community.  Stephen Chandler responded that he believed that there were sufficient numbers now.  Work was ongoing to grow the sector by improving retention and attraction of new staff to cope with expected future demand.

Dr Alan Cohen added that he believed that the case had not been made strongly enough that care was changing and becoming better and more efficient.

The report’s recommendations were agreed and it was further agreed that the Director for Public Health and the Corporate Director for Adult and Housing Services will come back with a plan for how and when the four points will be addressed by the Committee.

RESOLVED:

1.      That Senior Officers provide further information on the reporting of people who have experienced a delayed discharge from acute hospitals, and how some of the successes in reducing that number can be maintained into the future.

2.      That Senior Officers provide further information as to the consequences of implementing national guidance associated with the discharge of patients to care homes in the early stages  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/21