To note attendances, including Officers, and any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Thomas and D. Western.

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

Councillor Taylor and Councillor Dr. Carr declared a general interest in so far as any matter related to their employment.

Any other item or items (not likely to disclose "exempt information") which, by reason of special circumstances (to be specified), the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business received.

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4pm on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be within the remit of the Committee or be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received

The following question was submitted via email by Mrs. Judith Collins, Chair of the Altrincham and Bowdon Civic Society. Mrs. Collins attended the meeting and read out her question:

“What procedures are in place for people unable to move independently say from home or care facility to ambulance and from home to outside activities.  Do ambulances provide PAT boards, do transport organisations like Ring and Ride facilitate this. My understanding is that this not necessarily the case so I would appreciate clarification.”

The Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee read out the following response:

All clinical staff receive mandatory training in moving and handling patients.  All vehicles carry varying equipment, including handling belts for assisting patients to move.  Transfer boards (smaller than PAT).  Slide sheets.  Manger Elk lifting devices.  Patient transport chair (carrying chair).  Wheelchairs, stretchers and in some vehicles turntables and small version PAT slides.

If someone is struggling to get out and about without support there are various options available which depend on the level of needs of the individual. These range from requesting a blue badge to enable parking closer to the destination, vouchers for a taxi services, ring and ride, support to claim mobility benefits, use of wheelchairs, electric scooters or adaptations to motor vehicles through the Motability scheme. The use a PAT board would indicate a specialist requirement and shouldn’t be used without prior training etc. Therefore, it is recommended that full occupational therapy assessment is arranged to support any specific requirements. This can be arranged via the One Stop Resource centre on 0845 299 0798. This would then inform the requirements of a package of support at home or in a care home.

Further clarification was required with regard to community transport and tasks concerning lifting and handling to support people with limited mobility to leave their house.

To receive and, if so determined, to agree as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 27^th June 2019 and on 24^th July 2019

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Health Scrutiny Committee meetings held on 27^th June 2019 and on 24^th July 2019 be approved as correct records.

The Chair of the Committee explained that mental health was one of the five health and wellbeing priorities identified through the Trafford’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. Consequently, access to talking therapies and suicide action plan had been chosen as topics to review. In order to gather an impartial and wider picture of the service offer and current situation in Trafford, third sector organisations such as The Samaritans, MIND and Advocacy Focus had been invited to this evening’s meeting, together with officers of the Council and representatives of Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group and Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

In 2017/18, Trafford’s data concerning access to psychological therapies had been lower than the English average and the lowest amongst a group of similar Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG).

The Lead Commissioner Mental Health and Learning Disability, NHS Trafford, the Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Strategic Lead and the Clinical Lead Trafford Psychological Therapies for Primary Care Psychological Therapy Division of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust delivered a presentation to inform the committee of current performance against access targets.

Since 2017, performance in Trafford had improved substantially and, in 2018/19, 21% of adults requiring intervention were able to access therapy, against the national target of 19%. In addition, the recovery rate for 2018/19 was 54.5 against a recovery target of 50%, making Trafford one of top five performers in the North of England. The latest published rolling data for 2019/20 showed that this positive trend continued.

The Lead Commissioner Mental Health and Learning Disability, NHS Trafford, went on to explain that commissioners and providers worked collaboratively to develop a system whose main focus would be on preventative work rather than intervention; a Primary Care and Mental Health and Wellbeing service had been launched in April 2019. The access target was incrementally growing and in 2023/24 would be 31%. This posed a challenge in terms of resources such as workforce and accommodation. The existing on line access to psychological therapy services would need to be widened. Furthermore, a significant issue was represented by the psychological need of people with a long term physical condition who would benefit from psychological intervention.  Consequently, another element to develop would be integration with physical health services but also with leisure and voluntary services. Challenges existed with regard to access equitability to ensure that all communities could access services; currently there was a lower access in the north of the borough.

The Consultant Clinical Psychologist drew the attention of the Committee on the fact that the recovery rate continued to improve and, although this was a very challenging criteria to meet, the most recent data reported that 61% of people who completed treatment showed significant improvements to their condition to be classed as recovered. However, investments were necessary to improve access and quality of service for everyone; to increase access of 1%, a fully qualified member of staff would be needed as well as appropriate accommodation to deliver services. On a positive note, comparative data from 2014  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The Committee considered a report of the Interim Director of Public Health which gave an overview of the progress made with the Trafford’s Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan and the finding of a local suicide audit.

The Consultant in Public Health and the Specialist Registrar in Public Health were in attendance to present the information and address the enquiries of the Committee.

Officers reported that suicide was a major Public Health problem; almost 6,000 people in the UK took their own lives in 2017. Suicide was the main cause of death for men aged between 35 and 49, it was unequally distributed in the community, with higher rate in the most deprived areas. The risk factors linked to suicide were multiple and they ranged between social, relational and individual issues. Although suicide rate in Trafford was the lowest in the North West and in Greater Manchester, an average of 15 people lost their lives every year. The context in terms of risk factors and inequalities was very similar to the national picture highlighted above. The majority of people who died by suicide were not in contact with mental health services, despite mental health problems were a key risk factor for suicide.

Officers went on to explain that Trafford had a Suicide Prevention Strategy and action plan in place which aimed to reduce suicide by at least 10% by 2020 and to provide better support to individuals, families and communities at risk or affected by suicide. A multi-agency suicide prevention partnership group had been established to oversee progress of the action plan. Work had started to roll-out a mandatory e-learning training package for primary care and other front line staff on suicide prevention to raise awareness of the issue, recognise early signs and encourage signposting and support. The Council worked closely with the Coroner Office and the Fire and Rescue Services to exchange data and information to understand whether focus work was necessary in particular communities.  Work was ongoing in Greater Manchester to promote the “Shining a light on suicide” campaign to reduce stigma and increase awareness in the community through public facing web-sites and a social media channels. Two Trafford Councillors had specific responsibilities for suicide prevention.

The Chair welcome the Director of the Samaritans for Manchester and Salford who accepted the invitation of the Committee to take part to this evening’s meeting. The Director shared information on the work that the Samaritans carried out to reduce suicide through listening and making people feel heard and connected with another human being to ease their emotional distress. Two main points were highlighted: since 2013 there had been an increase in suicide figures and, this year, it had been registered a rise in the number of young women who took their life.

Members sought clarification on the e-learning training for Council’s staff. It was explained that the training was developed in collaboration with Health Education England to demonstrate how a conversation might spark a concern about someone’s mental health and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Committee gave consideration to a progress report on the work undertaken to address period poverty in Trafford. In March 2019, a list of recommendations had been presented to the Executive to highlight the difficulties that women and girls experienced every month for not being able to purchase sanitary products. The recommendations had been produced as result of the work of the Health Scrutiny’s Task and Finish Group on period poverty.

The Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Equality attended the meeting to present the information and addressed the enquiries of the Committee. Funding had been agreed to support the project to provide free sanitary products in all schools in Trafford, in libraries and Early Help Hubs and through all Food Banks. However, the project could not yet be launched as a volunteer coordinator was needed to collect donations of sanitary products and distribute them. Once this role was filled, a launch event would take place, possibly to coincide with International Women’s Day.

RESOLVED that a further update be provided in March 2020.

To follow

The Committee considered the work programme for 2019/20 and discussed possible topics for the work of the task and finish groups. It was agreed to examine the issues of failing GP practices and how to identify them and the work of the Council as a promoter good mental health.

The Committee requested to receive information on the immunisation programme in Trafford, following this week’s concern raised through the media that NHS data for 2018/19 showed that coverage for all routine childhood vaccinations for the under-fives had fallen.

RESOLVED -

1.    That: the topics of the task and finish groups as outlined in the work programme be agreed;

2.    That: a report on the immunisation programme in Trafford be presented at the next meeting of the Committee in November 2019.  

Motion   (Which may be amended as Members think fit):

That the public be excluded from this meeting during consideration of the remaining items on the agenda, because of the likelihood of disclosure of “exempt information” which falls within one or more descriptive category or categories of the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, as amended by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, and specified on the agenda item or report relating to each such item respectively.

None