To receive and, if so determined, to agree as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 August 2015.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 August 2015 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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 Brophy in relation to her employment by Lancashire Care Foundation Trust.

Councillor Chilton in relation to his employment by General Medical Council.

Councillor Harding in relation to her employment by a mental health charity.

Councillor Mitchel in relation to his employment with Greater Manchester West.

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.

The Chairman reported that she had agreed to an urgent item of Business to be considered by the Committee on the grounds that Significant variation to services were to be made and a decision was required as to whether this required consultation. The matter related to the closure of Stretford Memorial Hospital by Central Manchester University Hospital Foundation Trust (CMFT).

The Chief Operating Officer from CMFT attended the meeting and gave a short presentation to the Committee which covered a brief description of the hospital site, problems with the site and the risk assessment CMFT had carried out.   It also covered the re-provisioning of services, what will be done with the site and the difference in travel for those affected. It was explained that the sudden closure was due to an inspection conducted in August 2015. This inspection found that conditions at the Site had deteriorated at a greater rate than expected and as a result both staff members and patients personal safety was at risk.

After delivering the presentation the Health Scrutiny Committee and ward councillors in attendance were given the opportunity to ask questions. Councillors asked a wide range of questions around additional travel times, the timing of the closure and the provision of services within the Stretford area. Councillors were particularly concerned about the removal of Phlebotomy and INR (Anti-Coagulation) Services. The Chief Operating Officer answered the questions and gave assurances that by working with Pennine Foundation Trust and Trafford CCG the best solutions would be put in place for residents in the affected area. Councillors welcomed the answers given by CMFT and the level of communication that had been present throughout the process. The Committee also expressed their desire for this working relationship to continue and asked for a meeting to be scheduled to update them on progress.

Councillor Harding raised a query about reports that a large influx of patients at CMFT n the 5^th October had resulted in the cancellation of elective surgeries. The Chief Operating Officer confirmed that there had been an unexpected increase in attendances on 5^th October leading to surgeries being cancelled. The Chief Operating Officer assured all present that cancer surgeries were being protected from being cancelled and if extreme circumstances led to a cancer surgery being cancelled it would be rescheduled quickly.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Strategic Programmes be thanked for attending the meeting.

2)    That due to the risk to staff and patients at Stretford Memorial a consultation is not required.

3)    That another meeting be arranged between members of the Health Scrutiny Committee Ward Councillors and NHS Representatives to review progress before the end of October.

4)    That suitable Phlebotomy and INR service provision be put in place before Stretford Memorial closes.

To receive a verbal update from the Chief Operating Officer of Trafford CCG.

The Associate Director of Commissioning from Trafford CCG gave an update to the board as to the closure of the GP practice of Dr Pickup and Dr Kuan based at Timperley Healthcare Centre. The update covered why the practice was closed, the arrangements which were put in place during the closure and the progress that had been made in dispersing the patient list.

In addition to these areas, the Committee were informed that the drugs fridge at the practice had been at temperatures which fell outside of the range where the drugs, vaccinations and immunisations were effective. Due to this error Trafford CCG had been working with Pennine Health Care Foundation Trust to run a re-immunisation programme for all those who received immunisations at the practice since 2013. 

The Committee put a series of questions to the Associate Director of Commissioning covering the impact of the dispersal on other practices, what role regulatory bodies had taken in the process, the speed of the patient dispersal and what measures Trafford CCG were taking to ensure that the issue with the drugs fridge was not replicated. The Associate Director of Commissioning answered the Committee’s questions and informed members that the CQC had performed an inspection of the practice during the period that there was an issue with the fridge temperatures but this had not been picked up.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Associate Director of Commissioning be thanked for her update.

2)    That the CCG be thanked for the way they communicated with the Committee and affected Ward Councillors in relation to these issues.

3)    That Trafford CCG provides assurance to the Committee that all GPs within the borough are using specialist fridges and that they are being checked regularly.

4)    That the Committee write a letter to the CQC expressing their concerns that the issue with the drugs fridge was not picked up by the CQC inspection.

To receive a presentation from the Acting Corporate Director, Children, Families and Wellbeing.

The Acting Corporate Director of Children, Families and Wellbeing gave a detailed presentation to the Committee on Devolution Manchester. The presentation gave a broad overview of the whole of the programme including; the background, vision and goals, the strategic plan, finances, governance structure, timeline and locality plans. The presentation highlighted that the Trafford Care Coordination Centre (TCCC) will be central to Trafford’s locality plan.

After going through the presentation the Committee asked questions about the different aspects of the programme including how funding will be calculated and how the big issues (such as health inequalities) will be tackled. Councillors expressed their concern about how funding is calculated and the affect on Trafford. The Acting Corporate Director of Children, Families and Wellbeing answered the Committee’s questions and offered to circulate additional documentation to those who wanted more information.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Acting Corporate Director of Children, Families and Wellbeing be thanked for delivering the presentation.

2)    That the Trafford Health Scrutiny Committee continue to scrutinise Devolution Manchester from a local perspective.

3)    That the concerns of the committee members over the amount of funding Trafford will receive be noted.

4)    That Health Scrutiny Committee members were invited to visit the TCCC before the next meeting of the Committee 16^th December.

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Commissioning (Greater Manchester) of NHS England.

The NHS  England representative was not present at the meeting so the item was not considered.

To receive a verbal update from the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Councillor Mitchell.

The Chairman, Vice Chairman and Councillor Mitchell updated the Committee on their recent visits to Altrincham Hospital. All the Councillors were impressed with the hospital and the services provided there. All of the visits could only be conducted during the morning and so the Councillors were unable to comment on what patient footfall was like in the evenings.

There appeared to be adequate disabled parking at the Hospital site which had been an area of concern prior to the visits. On behalf of Councillor Mitchell conducted a mystery shopper exercise to book a disabled car parking spot and found the response and booking process swift and easy to go through.

Whilst on his visit Councillor Mitchell asked for information regarding the volume of patients attending the Hospital but Councillor Mitchell had not received this information.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Update be noted; and

2)    That Altrincham Hospital be asked to provide information regarding patient volumes and that this be distributed to Committee Members.

To receive a verbal update from Councillor Chilton.

Councillor Chilton gave a brief update to the Committee and informed members that he was still concerned as to the staffing levels of district nurses in the Trafford area. Councillor Chilton also confirmed that he and Councillor Bruer-Morris were due to visit Firsway Health Centre on the 20^th October 2015.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the update be noted; and

2)    That Councillor Chilton is to provide the Committee with an additional update following the visit 20^th October 2015.

To receive Enter and View and Healthwatch Update reports from the Chairman of Trafford HealthWatch.

The Chairman of HealthWatch Trafford reported that Healthwatch Trafford had conducted enter and view’s at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Daveyhulme Medical Centre and had completed another report with HealthWatch Manchester on Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. Junior Healthwatch was running well and if it continued to do so HealthWatch Trafford would consider expanding the scheme. Healthwatch Trafford’s patient feedback portal had recently been completed so that patients could leave feedback on GPs on their website. Healthwatch Trafford also conduct monthly drop in sessions at Trafford General and Altrincham Hospital and published their findings on a quarterly basis.

Members of the Committee asked a series of questions relating to the Enter and View reports. The Chairman of Healthwatch Trafford gave detailed answers to the questions and identified that staffing levels were a common issue across all of the reports.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Chairman of HealthWatch Trafford be thanked for attending the meeting.

2)    That HealthWatch Trafford be thanked for providing the Committee with their Enter and View reports and to note the quality and relevance of the information within them.

3)    That Health scrutiny and Healthwatch Trafford continue to work closely together and utilise each other’s powers to maximise their effectiveness.

To receive a verbal update from the Vice Chairman.

The Vice Chairman gave a brief update to the Committee regarding the meeting of the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee held 29^th September 2015.

The Vice Chairman informed the board that as many representatives from the NHS had failed to attend the meeting the Committee had written a letter to NHS partners and the Secretary of State. In addition an extra meeting of the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee was to be scheduled.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

To receive a report from the Democratic and Performance Services Manager.

The Committee read the update from central government about progress affecting Health Scrutiny that has been made since the Francis report was published.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To receive an update from the Chairman and/or Vice Chairman of the Committee on any matters arising from meetings with health providers.

The Chairman updated the Committee on the meetings that she had attended since July as part of her role. The Chairman detailed meetings with the CCG around GP practices and the previous meeting with CMFT regarding Stretford Memorial.

The Chairman also attended the Trafford CCG Annual General Meeting and recommended that Committee members visit Trafford CCG’s Website and view the documents available there.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.