To agree a Chair of the Committee for 2014/15.

The Committee nominated Councillor Newman as Chair and Councillor Lloyd as Vice Chair. 

Decision

To appoint Councillor Newman as Chair and Councillor Lloyd as Vice Chair

To receive and if so determined, to approve as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee held on 7 April 2014.

Decision

To approve the minutes of the meeting on 7 April 2014 as a correct record.

To note any declarations of interest.

The following personal interests were declared:

·         Councillor Lloyd declared a personal interest as an employee of the Stroke Association based at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.

·         Councillor Bruer-Morris declared a personal interest as a practice nurse at a GP practice in Trafford.

·         Councillor Rawlins declared a personal interest as a Governor at University Hospital South Manchester (UHSM)

To note the membership of the Committee. 

Decision

1. To note the membership as detailed in the report.

2. To request that Manchester appoint a substitute member.

To note the Committees terms of reference

Decision

To note the Terms of Reference as detailed in the report

To receive an update from NHS Representatives. The latest data pack will be circulated and an update will be presented at the meeting.

The Committee welcomed Dr Mike Burrows, Director (North West) NHS England, Dr Nigel Guest, Chief Clinical Officer of Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Gina Lawrence, Director of Commissioning and Operations of Trafford CCG and Jessica Williams, Head of Transformation, Primary Care, NHS England Greater Manchester Area Team.

Dr Guest and Ms Lawrence gave a presentation to the Committee which provided an update on the New Health deal for Trafford. The key points were:

·         The number of Trafford registered patient attendance at the three local Trusts, including Walk In Centres are 1.9% over plan;

·         A&E admissions of Trafford registered patient admissions at the three local Trusts are 540 below plan,

·         The A&E performance indicator for UHSM is not achieving the 95% target for the 4 hour wait however figures for August indicate that they will meet this target.

·         A number of initiatives and investment have been introduced at UHSM to identify need and address blockages in the systems.

·         Patient satisfaction with the Urgent Care Centre in Trafford is high and promotion of this service continues to influence the flow of patients to UHSM.

The Chair welcomed the presentation and the information provided however stated that he regretted that there was no representation or direct input from the Senior Management Team of UHSM. He requested that they be represented at future meetings to contribute to the discussions and allow questioning from the Committee. Dr Guest noted the Chairs comments and request for future meetings.

Members discussed the performance at UHSM. Ms Lawrence advised the Committee that a Performance Team was established to identify issues in patient flow at the hospital and as a result a number of services have been commissioned and processes redesigned. The example was given of changes to the patient discharge process to ensure this is more efficient, especially complex cases where this process can begin sooner to avoid any unnecessary and avoidable delays. Assurances were given to the Committee following a question from a member that discharge decisions are always made by a clinician as part of a multi disciplinary team.

A member commented that whist it was reassuring to learn that a number of measures have been implemented at UHSM to ensure the system is resilient he asked what would happen, if for example we experience a severe winter that would place additional pressures on the hospital.  Ms Lawrence advised that these measures are reviewed fortnightly by the Urgent Care Board to ensure they are appropriate to meet demand on services. She stated that when necessary additional services can be commissioned to address any need identified. She advised that this will help ensure that performance continues to improve at UHSM.

Dr Guest reiterated that a systematic approach is being taken to achieve targets across all services at the hospital. He stated that services are commissioned irrespective if patients are Trafford or South Manchester residents to ensure a consistency and improvement of service. He stated that further reports will reflect the improvements in target achievement.

A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.