Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2014

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest

To provide an opportunity for Members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the Agenda

There were no declarations of party whip

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Note: in order for officers to undertake and background research, it would be helpful if members of the public notified the Scrutiny Officer listed at the foot of the Agenda at least one working day before the meeting with brief details of the matter to be covered.

There were no members of the public present who wished to speak

To receive the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report

Dr Heather Grimbaldeston, Director of Public Health(DPH), presented her Annual Report for 2013/14. This year’s report was focused on Children’s Health and as such the Committee invited members of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny to attend and join the Committee’s discussion.

During the discussion the following points were made:

·         This was the first time the DPH had selected a specific age group to focus her report on. She decided to focus on children as there previously hadn’t been much information available on children’s health and most focus in the borough had been on older people’s health, due to its ageing population.

·         Most services were not geared towards providing children with a different type of service to adults. There should be child friendly standards for all services provided by Cheshire East.

·         9.5% of households were in fuel poverty with rural areas the most likely to be in fuel poverty although Crewe had significant levels of fuel poverty. Being in fuel poverty affected children’s health making them more susceptible to respiratory conditions such as cold and flu, and hypothermia.

·         There were 11 children’s centres in Cheshire East in 2013, all in urban areas. A strategy to consider how children’s centre services could be made more accessible to rural families needed to be developed.

·         Cheshire East’s figures for the number of mothers smoking during pregnancy were worse than the England average. This was a particular problem in Crewe which required a focus of support services in this area.

·         Breastfeeding was less common among young mothers and in deprived areas

·         Families should be empowered to make their own decisions rather than prescribing ways to live. There was a feeling that a common sense approach to children’s health had been lost and that parents expected things to be done for them. Most childhood illnesses could be managed by parents and in most cases Pharmacists would be able offer advice on treatment, reducing the need to see a GP.

·         Members believe that public health should link into schools more due to their access to children and influence on their lifestyles and education.

·         The environmental impact on health needed to be considered in more detail.

·         More awareness was needed of the affects of preconception activity on children’s health.

·         The report was an aspirational account by the DPH and only a few of the services that contributed to outcomes were commissioned by Public Health. The report needed to be used to influence other commissioners to ensure they worked together to improve health pathways.

·         The Committee wanted to see hoe the PDH’s 2012/13 report on early deaths had affect commissioning and whether it had lead to improved health outcomes. It was suggested that looking back at previous years’ reports should be standard practice to ensure they are effective. The Committee also wanted to review outcomes following this report in six months time.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2013/14 be noted.

(b)  That the Committee, along with the Children and Families  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

To formally consider and comment on the CCG’s proposals to transform stroke services in the area.

Jacki Wilkes, Associate Director of Commissioning at NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), to provide a brief overview of stroke services in Eastern Cheshire following a briefing that councillors had previously received at an informal meeting in October 2014.

The CCG was proposing to move stroke services from Macclesfield General Hospital to specialist centres in Salford Royal and Stepping Hill Hospitals. Evidence showed that specialist services improved mortality rates and reduced length of hospital stays. The CCG needed to improve rehabilitation services both in and out of hospitals and would look to provide services outside of hospital as often as possible.

RESOLVED – That the Committee formally supports the development of stroke services proposed by NHS Eastern Cheshire CCG.

To consider the latest forward plan

The Committee examined the Forward Plan

RESOLVED – That the Forward Plan be noted

To review the current Work Programme

The Committee considered its work programme.

It was suggested that the items on Top Up Policy and Direct Payments shouldn’t be part of the agenda for a formal meeting if they were only to note the changes being made and it would be more appropriate to send a briefing on the changes to councillors informally. Following the briefings being sent to councillors there could be an item on a future agenda to allow members an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions about the policies.

It was suggested that an item on the development of a Council Quality Assurance scheme, to look at the quality of care provided in care homes, should be provided to the Committee in February.

RESOLVED – That the Work Programme be updated following the changes dicussed.