Agenda item

11:50

System leaders will attend to give an update on progress on the CQC Action Plan, as determined by the second local area review (JHO9).

Prior to consideration of this item the Committee was addressed by Councillor Jenny Hannaby. She commented that she had been pleased that the CQC had recognised the work which had taken place on better working relationships with Health partners; and that it had been found that strategic development to be more robust in the usage of performance data. She suggested that this Committee should carry out an investigation into how far the voluntary sector would like more involvement/collaboration with the Health & Wellbeing Board, which could lead to better services. She also suggested that this Committee take steps to encourage more progress in relation to the recruitment challenge.

The Chairman welcomed Pete McGrane (Oxford Health), Sam Foster (OUH), Diane Hedges (OCCG) and Kate Terroni (OCC) up to the table.

Kate Terroni, in her introduction, stated that Oxfordshire was the only one chosen out of the three systems for the CQC to re-review. She observed that Councillor Hannaby had focused on the work which was still required as a result of the inspection. As an outcome of the re-review, the CQC had noted that:

-       More work had been put into building trust between health and social care and thought given to how both could work together better, in order to improve the outcomes for patients and their relatives;

-       Winter Planning had been executed well, bringing the delay statistics down from 81 to 60-80. More steps had been taken under a single leadership so that patients could leave hospital in a timely way;

-       More thinking was needed on how to move away from the transactional working relationship with the providers;

-       A comprehensive review of carers and self-funders was required; and

-       Sufficient progress had been made on the tracking of patients.

Sam Foster stated that co-location was an important factor in terms of patients being treated in a seamless fashion. For those patients on pathway 1 (happy to be alone in between visits, there were co-located teams which could be scaled up in a place – related approach (‘Home First’). A range of pilots were taking place around therapy support, which was being driven by the A & E Delivery Board.

Questions from the Committee and responses received were as follows:

-       Much time and effort has been put into filling the gap between services as best as possible, what actions have been employed to do this? – Kate Terroni listed a number of actions including:

·         Health/Adult Social Care Chief Executives had a call a week to discuss any operational issues;

·         ‘Oxfordshire Pound’ work by the provider Trusts within the community;

·         Single team working in the John Radcliffe Hospital. This was successful as it was place-based approach to regulation as it required a place-based approach to regulation, which, in turn, required collective ownership of people and a joined-up approach.

Kate Terroni reported that a conversation was required on how to work with districts, HOSC’s and the voluntary sector in the face of absence of a formal mandate from the Government.

Members asked whether there were plans in place to recruit people from all over the world? Sam Foster responded that they were and 51 new nurse/doctor recruits were coming from Cambodia, Ghana and India. The Trust was also now going out for therapists and other groups of staff. There were also some exciting apprenticeships planned, with a potential to make these roles attractive for career development. Kate Terroni reported also that talks were ongoing with the managers of 70 home care providers to discuss what the blocks were to the provision of more home care workers. In addition to this, work was ongoing on what technology and pilots were needed to provide a fresh look at this area. She added that more patch-based training could be offered and thought given into how to link with local primary care therapy. Mapping this out would begin soon to see how it would look and then, if proved possible, start in six to nine months.

The Committee then AGREED to RECOMMEND that the Health & Wellbeing Board, being the accountable body considers focusing on three or four topics, in an integrated, systematic manner,  and it be held to account by this Committee. For example, its systematic approach to workforce issues, or continuity issues such as travel to the John Radcliffe for patients.

Diane Hedges commented that this was a very helpful suggestion. Picking the right topics was the key to ensure that there was sufficient ‘joining together’.