Agenda and minutes

Councillors G Baxendale, Clair Chapman, S Edgar, O Hunter and L Smetham.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 2017.

RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting held on the 11 May 2017 be confirmed as a correct record 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 the existence of a 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.  Councillors B Burkill and D Mahon were in attendance for the agenda item that related to Outpatient Clinics from Handforth.

To consider an update on the potential relocation of Outpatient Clinics from Handforth by East Cheshire NHS Trust.

Steven Redfern and Fiona Walton from East Cheshire NHS Trust and Neil Evans from Eastern Cheshire CCG gave a presentation to the Committee to update on the Substantial Development/Variation (SDV) that related to the relocation of outpatient clinics in Handforth.

The SDV related primarily to consultant-led outpatient clinics.  These services were placed on a national ‘choice’ directory of which the CCG paid a nationally determined tariff price for any patient to use these services.  GP’s could then use the e-referral system to identify outpatient clinics and the patient selects there appointment.  Supported transport is available for patients who need it.

The CCG believed the current arrangements for this building to be very limited and in order to provide more services a bigger space was required.  The process for X-Ray appointments was currently very labour intensive and duplicated appointment times.  Neil reiterated the focus of the CCG to offer community provision in Handforth that has value for money.

The Committee was informed that 405 patients were affected by the changes which was less than the earlier estimate, however many of those appointments would need access to diagnostics (such as X-Ray) which were not available at Handforth.  In other areas there were a lot less consultant led appointments, in Handforth there were a lot more cases.

In terms of mitigation, Neil advised that travel support arrangements had been identified, and that the CCGs had undertaken local public engagement and involvement working with local outpatient groups in the area.

Steven and Neil concluded by summarising the main points of the presentation, the impact of patients and viable options available, the CCG was looking to put increased provision in place over the next 2-3 months and would be working closely with GPs.

The Chairman confirmed the health protocol required a minimum of 12 weeks consultation time for Level 3 SDVs but this was something that could be discussed between the two CCG’s outside of the meeting.

The Chairman thanked Steven, Fiona and Neil for the presentation and asked them to finalise the points raised by the Committee and to send a revised briefing note.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the presentation be noted and Steven, Fiona and Neil be thanked for their attendance and contributions.

(b)  That the CCG be required to provide the Committee with details from the public consultation

(c)  That the CCG be required to provide the Committee with a revised briefing note following the feedback given today.

To consider the progress made in respect of the recommendations made by the Committee in July 2016 following the spotlight review.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) officers: Ged Blezard- Director of Operations, Dave Kitchin- Head of Service for Cheshire and Mersey, Mac Dunne- Consultant Paramedic for Cheshire and Mersey and Mike Moore- Sector Manager for Cheshire East all attended the meeting and presented an update following the 2016 NWAS spotlight review.

Ged talked through the NWAS Improvement Plan Actions.  These included engagement with GP’s in East Cheshire due to the high weekday volume of Healthcare Professional (HCP) admission calls. 

The Chairman summarised the presentation, noting that most of the NWAS recommendations from the Scrutiny spotlight review had been met and utilisation of the Cheshire East Care Directory was being achieved.

Whilst response times were still not being met at a regional level, they were still in keeping with the rest of the country.

RESOLVED-

(a)  That the presentation be noted and received.

(b)  That the Cheshire East Adult and Social Care Team liaise with NWAS to work in partnership to produce pathways for Care Homes and Ambulatory care.

(c)  That NWAS be invited to return to the Committee in 12 months time to review progress.

The Chairman to update the Committee on the Delayed Transfer Of Care report following a spotlight review in January 2017.

Mark Palethorpe advised that some of the key recommendations within the draft report had started to be implemented by Cheshire East Council following the spotlight review.  The Chairman was appreciative of the feedback and underlined the value of proactive Overview and Scrutiny.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report be received and noted.

(b)  That the Chairman be authorised to make any minor changes to the report as appropriate.

(c)  That the final report be submitted to Informal Cabinet.

To consider the People Live Well For Longer Report and three year commissioning plan from the Director of Commissioning.

Mark Palethorpe advised the Committee that the People Live Well for Longer was a commissioning plan for adult care and support in Cheshire East.

It was planned that the plan would be taken to Cabinet in September.

The plan looked at how Cheshire East Council worked with organisations such as CCG’s, voluntary and faith sector with input from a wide variety of people.

The plan demonstrated a wide approach to commissioning to ensure a link to all six Council outcomes. People Live Well and for Longer, but ensured services for residents that were high quality, affordable and value for money.

The Committee asked what Recovery based accommodation (RBA) was and for some more detail on how it worked.  Mark advised that RBA provided a safe temporary home for patients recovering from substance abuse where they could work towards maintaining an independent tenancy.  This service was commissioned through the local authority and delivered through public health.

Members asked for clarification on Care4CE.  Linda Couchman advised that there would be a review of Care4CE, and that 95% of services were now outsourced and this included a large proportion of council employed staff. 

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report be noted.

(b)  That a Care4CE presentation be provided by Linda Couchman in November and this be added to the Work Programme.

To review the current Work Programme.

The Chairman advised the Committee that South Cheshire CCG had made Scrutiny aware of a Level 3 SDV pertaining to a potential branch closure in Scholar Green, Odd Rode ward that will be presented on the 6 July.

RESOLVED-

(a)  That the Work Programme be approved.

(b)  That the potential branch closure in Scholar Green, Odd Rode ward SDV be added to the Work Programme.

(c)  That an item for the Eastern Cheshire CCG Connecting Care Recovery Plan be added to the Work Programme.

To note the current forward plan, identify any new items, and to determine whether any further examination of new issues is appropriate.

The Committee reviewed the Forward Plan

RESOLVED- That the Forward Plan be received and noted.