Agenda and minutes

A Member must declare any disclosable pecuniary interest where it relates to any matter being considered at the meeting. A declaration of a disclosable pecuniary interest should indicate the interest and the agenda item to which it relates. A Member is not permitted to participate in this agenda item by law and should immediately leave the meeting before the start of any debate. If the Member leaves the Chamber in respect of a declaration, he or she should ensure that the Chairman is aware of this before he or she leaves to enable their exit from the meeting to be recorded in the minutes in accordance with Standing Order 37.

None.

Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 23 June 2022 – to approve as a correct record.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2022 be approved as a correct record.

Cllr Ian Parker noted that there was an outstanding action in respect of Minute HEA 5 (Dental Services in North Somerset) relating to the provision of community (mobile) dental services at care homes in the district and the Scrutiny Officer confirmed he would follow this up.

[This item was taken out of sequence]

The Consultant in Mental Health presented for Members’ feedback, the report outlining the findings and recommendations of the Adults Mental Health Needs Assessment for the population aged over 18.

In discussion, Members sought and received clarification on the following aspects of the Mental Health Needs Assessment:

·       workplace health programme;

·       Place-based approach and how to assess its effectiveness;

·       social prescribing, particularly around increasing exercise;

·       debt and the cost-of-living crisis;

·       resource mapping;

·       risk factors affecting children and into adolescence (child experiences);

·       digital exclusion;

·       men’s health including addressing mental health stigma; and

·       ongoing mental health implications of Covid-19, particularly those associated with isolation from family/friends.

Concluded: that the report be received.

[This item was taken out of sequence]

The Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Population, NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB) gave a presentation on the outcomes of the Board’s engagement with the public and staff on plans for delivering the ‘Health Weston 2’ programme.

The Panel welcomed the reported positive feedback from the engagement and acknowledged the improvement in the Hospital’s Care Quality Commission assessed performance, but Members felt there was more to do around changing public perceptions, noting ongoing staffing and recruitment challenges and significant pandemic implications.

Members sought and received clarification on the following:

·       the arrangements for and implications of transferring patients to other hospitals and how this model was being developed; and

·       transport to hospital when bus routes were being cut and potential system-wide approaches to supporting access.

Concluded: that the report be received.

The Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Population (NHS BNSSG ICB) gave a presentation reporting on primary care and ambulance performance in the BNSSG area.

In discussing primary care performance, Members sought and received clarification on the following:

·       availability of access to monkey pox vaccine; and

·       inconsistent GP access and the role of the ICB in monitoring performance.

In presenting the ambulance performance data, the Director emphasised that the service was one of the better performing but the well-publicised issues with waiting times at hospital was a clear example of how challenges affecting one part of the system could impact significantly elsewhere: ambulance waiting times were a symptom of complex range of issues impacting hospital throughput and discharge He said the greatest priority was currently being given to addressing these causes.  

Members sought and received clarification on the following points:

·       current performance compared with pre-pandemic levels; and

·       initiatives in social care to mitigate hospital admission pressures;

In closing the debate the Chairman referred again to the significant challenge illustrated by the ambulance waiting time data, noting that this would worsen yet further during the winter months.

Concluded: that the report be received

The Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Population (NHS BNSSG ICB) gave a presentation providing context, the six key national priorities., forecasts (including bed occupancy and ambulance hand-over times) and an outline of the initial content of the winter plan.

Members sought and received clarification on the following

·       strategies for addressing conditions for care workers

·       implications of industrial action; and

·       what a worst-case scenario looked like.

Concluded: that the report be received.

Before closing the item, the Chairman noted that that the Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Population had recently been appointed to this new role at the ICB and Members, and on behalf of Members, thanked him for his valued contribution to the work of the Panel in his former role in the now superseded Clinical Commissioning Group.  The Director thanked Members for their constructive involvement over the years.

The Chair updated members on Panel working group activity including around the integration of Weston General Hospital services with the wider University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Trust and the development of a new Surgery at the Weston Rugby Club site.

Concluded: that the work item be updated accordingly.