Agenda item

12:55

An update on the development of the Oxfordshire Community Services Strategy.

The Committee had before it a paper providing a brief update on the Oxfordshire Community Services Strategy which proposed a way of working with members of JHOSC, the public and other key stakeholders to ensure engagement was as effective as possible.

Before considering the report, the Chair had agreed to a request to speak on this item:

Julie Mabberley welcomed the appointment of Helen Shute as Programme Director and hoped that this will enable a detailed timeline to be produced for the Strategy.  She asked for more information about the way that this project will be scrutinised by HOSC and repeated a number of questions that she said had not yet been answered:

·       More clarity was needed on what the Strategy was intended to do.

·       While it was anticipated new services for mental health in Wantage could see a potential 300 people a month being assessed, it wasn’t clear if this will be 300 in Wantage or across Oxfordshire.

·       If birthing does not reopen in March when does this become a “substantial change” subject to public consultation?

·       How will the changes taking place in the direction and content of the strategy affect the future of in-patient beds at Wantage?

·       Was a minor injuries unit in the hospital being considered?

Helen Shute, newly appointed Programme Director, Community Services Strategy, Oxford Health, summarised the Strategy as providing the people of Oxfordshire with the right care at the right time in the right places supported by the right resources.  She planned to put in a programme structure to make it clearer what they intend to do and the progress they are making along the way.  She would provide timescales once she had scoped what was required.

On an issue such as a minor injuries unit, they will look at the county as a whole, the needs and what is currently available and other issues such as transport, parking etc.  They will also consider what care can be delivered at home given new technologies available.

Dr Ben Riley, Executive Director, Primary, Community and Dental Care, Oxford Health, added that the principles of the strategy, which were updated following the public engagement work last year, had been adopted by the Health and Wellbeing Board in December.  There were a large number of proposals being considered.

The pilots at Wantage were going well – notably Ophthalmic and Audiology Services and a wide range of mental health services.  Most people using those services were from the south west of the county.  Oxford University Hospitals, the provider of the Birthing Unit at the Hospital, had indicated that they hoped to reopen this service within a few weeks.  219 responses have been received on the new out-patient services and they will have been evaluated by the time HOSC Members visit the hospital in May.

The Chair reported that she had already arranged to meet with Helen Shute to discuss the lessons to be learned from the previous experience of the OX12 Task and Finish Group.

District Councillor Paul Barrow stated that one of the difficulties for the OX12 group had been understanding the rationale and evidence base for decisions being made.  He hoped that this aspect could be addressed in updates on the programme.

Dr Alan Cohen expressed concern that Community Services might mean different things to different people and there needed to be a discussion around that – possibly a joint meeting with this Committee and the Health & Wellbeing Board as had been previously suggested.

Helen Shute responded that they would be clearer on that and have discussion on it when the Committee visits Wantage on 4 May.

Barbara Shaw noted the reference in the report to 40 possible projects and asked if they could see that list to help them visualise what was intended.  Helen Shute responded that some of the 40 were not really projects but were enablers or continuous improvements.  She will come back to the Committee with a clearer list of projects.

The Chair emphasised that the in-patient beds issue was also of great concern to people and that work had still to be done to estimate the number of in-patient beds needed across the county given the experience of the pandemic.  She asked for a further update on progress on the Strategy for the June meeting.