Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Sangster.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

There were no Declarations Interest.

The Chair reported that he had no specific announcements as current issues were covered in the subsequent agenda items.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 August 2019 are attached and the Commission will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

that the Minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission held on 29 August 2019 be confirmed as a correct record, subject to noting an amendment to the name of the Healthwatch representative on the LPT Board as Mark Falmer.

The Scrutiny Policy Officer confirmed that Commission members were being asked to form a small ‘Task and Finish Group’ to consider the parking problems being experienced by Community Services providers.

It was noted that other ongoing issues and items had been included on the Work Programme.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any Questions, Representations and Statements of Case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The following 3 questions have been submitted by Mr Robert Ball:

The government has announced that Leicester Hospitals NHS Trust will receive an investment of £450m to fund a massive development programme. Therefore, local NHS leaders no longer have a case for refusing to allow the public to see their detailed plans.

1.      Will University Hospitals Leicester please clarify the timescale for consultation on the hospital reconfiguration and building programme?

University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) was not successful in getting funding, at this stage - to allow the plan to reorganise hospital services which will involve closing down the General as an acute hospital and moving a range of services from the General and Glenfield to the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

With no funding it's not clear how acute reconfiguration of UHL will proceed. However, any new hospital development need to take into account the UK face a climate emergency and NHS organisations need to take far-ranging action to cut the harmful impact of their activity on the environment.

The NHS is a very large organisation and its activities from travel (5% of vehicles on the road are on NHS related journey's), energy use in buildings and procurement are responsible for 6.3% of England's total carbon emissions, and 5% of total air pollution. This has direct consequences for health and health spending. Increased temperature due to the global climate crisis will lead to morbidity and mortality, for the young and the old. This is urgent and we need to act now.

Questions for University Hospitals of Leicester, against the background above:

2.         When will UHL declared a climate emergency, like the NHS in    Greater Manchester - committing to far-ranging action to slash carbon emissions and avert predicted heat-related illness and disease?

3.         When will UHL develop and agree a plan that will show how the NHS will meet its obligations under the Climate Change Act to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050?

The Monitoring Officer reported that four questions had been submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures. 

Three questions were received by Mr Robert Ball, and one question was received from Ms Sally Ruane.

The Chair indicated that the questions would be taken in the order they were received.  He invited the first questioner, Mr Robert Ball to put his questions to the Commission:

Mr Robert Ball:

Question 1

(The government has announced that Leicester Hospitals NHS Trust will receive an investment of £450m to fund a massive development programme. Therefore, local NHS leaders no longer have a case for refusing to allow the public to see their detailed plans).

Against the background above:

1.         “Will University Hospitals Leicester please clarify the timescale for consultation on the hospital reconfiguration and building programme?”

A written response by means of a copy of a recent press release was provided as follows:

“John Adler, Chief Executive of Leicester’s Hospitals said: “We are ecstatic to hear that we will benefit from major national capital funding to invest in our local hospitals.  This will allow us to fulfil our ambition of creating the local hospitals that our patients and staff deserve and can be proud of”.

“This money will allow us to realise a major programme of investment to transform our hospitals and improve the way that we deliver care.  The £450m allocated to us will allow us to create:

• A new Maternity Hospital and dedicated Children’s Hospital at the Royal Infirmary
• Two ‘super’ intensive care units with 100 beds in total, almost double the current number
• A major planned care Treatment Centre at the Glenfield Hospital
• Modernised wards, operating theatres and imaging facilities, and
• Additional car parking

Karamjit Singh, Chairman of Leicester’s Hospitals, said: “On behalf of our Trust Board, I would like to say how pleased we are that the need for major investment in our hospitals has been recognised.  This success is testament to the hard work of all those involved in developing our plans and to the fantastic support we have had from local stakeholders. I also appreciate the recent visit the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, made to Leicester in order to see for himself the reasons why we needed this investment.”

Questions 2 & 3:

(University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) was not successful in getting funding, at this stage - to allow the plan to reorganise hospital services which will involve closing down the General as an acute hospital and moving a range of services from the General and Glenfield to the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

With no funding it's not clear how acute reconfiguration of UHL will proceed. However, any new hospital development need to take into account the UK face a climate emergency and NHS organisations need to take far-ranging action to cut the harmful impact of their activity on the environment.

The NHS is a very large organisation and its activities from travel (5% of vehicles on the road are on NHS related journey's), energy use in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

Yasmin Sidyot, Acting Director or Urgent and Emergency Care for the LLR CCGs and Rebecca Brown, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive for UHL, will present the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Urgency and Emergency Care vision.

Yasmin Sidyot (Acting Director UEC) submitted the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Urgent and Emergency Care Transformation plan and gave a presentation to outline the key points. She advised that the content of the presentation had originally been collated for the purposes of regulators.

It was noted that the vision was to create a health and care system that provided responsive, accessible person-central services as close to home as possible.  In order to meet important and significant targets and deliver safe, high-quality, cost effective care for patients in LLR, local health and social care partners and agreed the Transformation Plan.  This set out the plans to deliver the vision for urgent and emergency care and the priorities had been set out into the following key work programme areas:

·         Integrated Urgent Care

·         Ambulance

·         Urgent Treatment Centres

·         Hospitals

·         Reduction in length of stay

·         Digital

The separate aspects affecting each of these key programme areas were described.

The Commission noted the findings and the methods involved in the  formation of the plan.  Concern was expressed at the lack of available GP Surgery consultations, arising from complaints from constituents, which had led to an increase in visits to emergency or urgent treatment centres.

The work undertaken to increase access to GPs was reported and accepted and it was noted that another emergency area facility may be proposed in the city based on known data.  The lack of suitable access to GPs was recognised as a national problem.

The rapid decline in care home provision was also noted and the need to maintain high standards of care were explained.  In terms of assessment, it was clarified that qualified social workers as well as nurses were involved in the process.

The effect on the vulnerable and elderly by the move to digital solutions was raised, together with patient transport changes.  The work undertaken to minimise disruption and upset was discussed and it was noted that the move to digital was not intended to completely replace other services, but that those who could use digital solutions were being encouraged to do so.

In response to a question concerning the disagreement with EMAS in regard to  ambulance handover processes, the situation was clarified and it was noted that assurance that sufficient practices and safeguarding were in place had since been given.

The need to ensure that mental health investment was in line with funding of physical health services was emphasised and noted.

In conclusion, it was noted that without tackling the GP access issue, visits to A&E and Urgent Treatment Centres would continue, with the ambition for another centre in the city being welcomed.

AGREED:

                        That the position be noted and a further report be submitted in                      due course as an update.

Ivan Browne, Director of Public Health, submits a report which provides an overview of the manifesto pledges which fall under the theme of Health and Wellbeing for discussion.

The Assistant City Mayor (Health), Councillor Dempster, presented a report of the Director of Public Health, which provided an overview of the manifesto pledges relevant to the Commission.

In respect of the proposals to ensure the availability of free sanitary items, it was suggested that a trial project be established to ensure that the accessibility to products was available at a wider number of Council and other public buildings.

In respect of the proposals concerning access to leisure services, the removal of ‘pay per sessions’ was expressed as a concern.  It was reported that many elderly and vulnerable people that enjoyed the benefit of the facilities may become excluded.  It was considered that these users would not be able to access private facilities and the ‘public ownership and access’ of leisure centres should be maintained.

A progress report was requested.

AGREED:
 

1. That the nine health and wellbeing areas be noted;

2. That the focus of the work being undertaken be noted, and a follow up report be submitted to the meeting of the Commission to be held on 2 April 2020; and

3. That the follow up report include further information and options concerning the charging policies at Council owned Leisure Centres, and other associated facilities.

The Work Programme for the Commission is attached for information and comment.

The Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission’s Work Programme for 2019/20 was submitted for information and comment.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Commission would focus on Mental Health issues.

It was advised that specific comments on the programme could be forwarded separately to the Scrutiny Policy Officer.

AGREED:  That the Work Programme be noted.

Hospital Close Residences and Jarrom Street Proposed Development

The attached Briefing Note will be considered as an item of urgent business.  This is because of the timing of the update and undue delay if consideration was deferred until the next meeting.

The Chair referred to the Briefing paper submitted by the UHL, relating to Hospital Close and Jarrom Street, which he had accepted as Urgent Business.

The detail of the briefing note had been discussed during item 6 Questions (Minute item 33).

The meeting closed at 8.32 pm.