Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Alison Cornelius welcomed all attendees to the meeting.

She noted a correction to the previous minutes:

-        Page 12 should be ‘reported to the Committee in 2018’,

Matters arising from the previous meeting:

The Chairman read out a precis of an update she had received from Barnet CCG regarding the utilisation of Finchley Memorial Hospital:

“Following the opening of Adam’s Ward in late December 2017, the CCG has finalised agreement to develop a new Breast Screening Unit at Finchley Memorial Hospital which should be operational by the end of July 2018, followed not long afterwards by a new CT Scanner research project providing enhanced diagnostic services to Barnet residents at risk of developing lung cancer.

The capital project to convert a series of consulting and examination rooms into these two new suites is close to being finalised.  The timings of the CT Scanner services becoming operational will be a bit later than the Breast Screening services.  This is because the capital works and commissioning of new equipment is more extensive and also because University College London Hospitals (UCLH) need to coordinate timings with the full research programme.  However, the aim is for this service to be operational later this year. 

The CCG is currently working with local GPs to develop Primary Care Services on the Finchley site and is inviting expressions of interest from Barnet Practices.  The CCG requires applying Practices to offer a full range of GP Primary Care Services including new patient registrations.  This is an exciting opportunity to also potentially align Primary Care with Mental Health and Social Care Services.  The CCG will be meeting with new Practices at the end of May and have invited submissions by the end of June.  These will be reviewed and a decision to proceed will be made in July 2018.

If an acceptable proposal is identified, the CCG will work with the GPs to manage the next steps.  Although the CCG cannot be precise about timescales from this point onwards, as they are dependant on the detail of the successful proposal, the aim is to have new services operational from the Finchley site by the end of 2018.  At the December 2017 HOSC meeting, the CCG Chief Operating Officer explained that whilst there was confidence that a solution would be found, if it was not possible to bring forward an acceptable proposal, the CCG would move forward with plans for other clinical services at Finchley Memorial Hospital”

The Committee requested an update report on the utilisation of Finchley Memorial Hospital be received at their July 2018 meeting.

The Chairman notified the Committee that the Governance Officer is still chasing the Care Closer to Home Integrated Networks (CHINS) information requested by the Committee at their February 2018 meeting.

The Committee requested the STP update be added to the Committee Forward Work programme.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5February  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

Apologies were received from Councillor Val Duchisnky, who was substituted by Councillor Felix Byers.

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The Chairman informed the Committee that at the last meeting it was noted that the Boroughs of Enfield and Barnet do not get as much funding as the Boroughs of Islington and Camden.

Councillor Edwards enquired whether discussions surrounding the integration of Health and Social Care were appropriate and in line with the remit of the Committee. Dawn Wakeling, Strategic Director for Adults, Communities and Health at Barnet Council, explained the Health and Wellbeing Board regularly looks into Health and Social Care Integration matters as it forms part of their constitutional terms of reference and owns the Better Care Fund Plan, which is a national policy.  Updates are regularly reported to this Board. The Adults and Safeguarding Committee is responsible for all matters relating to Adult Social Care. However, the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee could receive reports and updates in relation to health aspects of Integrated Care for scrutiny purposes.

The Chairman advised the Committee that if any of them wished to attend the North Central London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (NCL JHOSC) meetings, they were welcome to do so and that all dates were set out in the Minutes.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the minutes of the North Central London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Chairman invited the following to the table:

·       Councillor Caroline Stock – Chairman of Barnet Health and Wellbeing Board.

Councillor Stock updated the Committee on Diabetes Awareness Week and the activities being held in Barnet. Councillor Stock told the Committee a Diabetes awareness event would be held at Brent Cross on the 7 June and that Dr Lesley Eisenberg would be involved, representing Diabetes UK and providing information and guidance. Councillor Stock also highlighted that Saracens were promoting activities associated with Saracens’ Sports Foundation. Councillor Stock said many events would be taking place during the week to raise awareness of Diabetes, including Park Runs at Oak Hill Park and Friary Park.

All information about the Diabetes Awareness Project would be available on the Public Health website and she encouraged everyone to come along and support the events.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the Minutes of the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting and received a verbal update on Diabetes Awareness Week. 

North London Hospice

The Chairman invited the following to the table:

·         Miranda Fairhurst - Assistant Director, North London Hospice

·         Giselle Martin-Domingeuz – Assistant Director, North London Hospice

The Committee scrutinised the Draft Quality Account of the North London Hospice for the year 2017-18 and wish to put on record the following comments:

·         The Committee commended the five week course for carers at the end of life which is run by the Hospice. The Committee noted  the compliments from those who had attended the course, saying it had been excellent and very beneficial. The Hospice said this course had been developed via the Health and Wellbeing Centre and would be an ongoing course.

·         The Committee commented on the activities and groups being run by the Hospice to support patients such as the Catching the Light group and the Death Café. The Committee said it was wonderful to hear such good feedback from patients on how these groups had helped them cope with their illnesses.

·         The Committee praised the Hospice on their Service User Experience Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), noting all but one were higher than the previous year. The Committee also acknowledged there were no reported incidents of C.Diff at the Hospice, which is an excellent achievement; the Committee hoped to see this continue.

·         Although the Committee noted that the number of pressure ulcers was high, they were pleased that all incidents were classified as unavoidable, which suggested that a good standard of monitoring was in place.

·         The Committee was pleased to see that a part-time pharmacist had been employed  to review the medication every patient takes on admission to the Inpatient Unit to ensure the medication given was correct.

·         The Committee commented on how good the One Page Patient Profile for the Dementia Steering Group is, as it assisted staff with familiarising themselves with each patient. The Committee thought this was an excellent idea and should continue.

·         The Committee was also pleased to see the incorporation of a Safeguarding Key Worker to take responsibility for each incident and chase down the issue to resolution. The Hospice said this was working well and the Safeguarding Key Worker meets with each team to discuss and resolve cases and this had really improved communication.

·         The Committee complimented the Hospice on the wonderful service it provides in Barnet and expressed how appreciated it was. The Committee also commended the amazing volunteers and wonderful staff for all their hard work.

However:

·         The Committee noted the high turnover of staff detailed in the Quality Account again this year. The Hospice explained that although the data suggested there was an issue with high turnover of staff, many of those who had left were Bank staff. The Hospice explained that the HR department was working hard to devise imaginative and creative ways to recruit and retain staff. The Hospice had recently reviewed their appraisal system and was aiming to recruit more permanent staff.

·         The Committee noted that the incidents of pressure ulcers was high again and queried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Chairman invited the following to the table:

·       Clare Slater-Robins – Senior Children and Young People Commissioner Barnet Clinical Commissioning Group and Barnet Council.

·       Janet Lewis – Director of Operations, CLCH

The Officers told the Committee that the Breastfeeding Peer Support Service had been amalgamated with the Public Health Nursing Services to help provide support to the service. They explained that the Breastfeeding Support runs alongside the Health Visitor’s sessions and Breastfeeding Drop in Sessions were available for support and advice in a number of settings, including the Children’s Centres and Health Visitor Clinics. Staff were currently providing advice on matters whether at home, in a Clinic or at a Children’s Centre Group.

The Committee was told that a Steering Group and Stakeholder Group had been set up with the task of working on specific delivery models for Public Health Nursing. The models would identify how the services would be reshaped, what was working and identify any issues that needed improvement. Officers said there had been a strong feeling that co-production of the project was desired and that this would be discussed at the ‘Infant Feeding’ next steps meeting in June.

The Committee were told that the engagement meeting on the 24 May had been attended by approximately 32 people and 6 infants / children and the next stakeholder meeting was due to be held in September 2018.

The Chairman requested an update on the design of the service be brought back to the Committee in October 2018.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report on Barnet Breastfeeding Support Services.

The committee agreed to have the following items added to the work programme:

-       Update report on the Finchley Memorial Hospital, including breast screening and GP services.

-       A report on the extra funds to enable GPS to offer more appointments.

-       Update report on the STP.

RESOLVED that the items be added to the work programme.

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