Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies had been received from Cllr Wood-Ford.

In relation to Agenda item 5 (Adult Mental Health Transformation), Cllr Phil Grove declared a personal interest as Leader of Malvern Hills District Council.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by email indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 9 March 2016). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

Judith Aldridge from the Friends of Link Nurseries was present and the Chairman requested that she speak to the Committee as part of Agenda item 5, which made reference to services delivered at Link Nurseries.

Previously circulated

The Minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In attendance for this agenda item were:

Worcestershire Health and Care Trust (The Trust)

Sue Harris, Director of Strategy and Business Development

Mark Dickens, Deputy Director of Operations and Adult Mental Health and Learning Disability Services

Zelda Peters, Mental Health Transformation Lead

Integrated Commissioning Unit

Jenny Dalloway, Lead Commissioner for Mental Health and Dementia

Carol Rowley, Commissioning Manager

The Chair introduced the main agenda item, which was to provide an update on all developments relating to Adult Mental Health Transformation, with more specific focus on those associated with Secondary Care Community Services and Inpatient Services.

Issue of Link Nurseries

Before the update on Secondary Care and Inpatient aspects of Adult Mental Health Services, Judith Aldridge, a member of the Friends of Link Nurseries was invited to share her concerns about the potential closure of the Nurseries. HOSC members had also been provided with a copy of a letter to the Chair from Harriet Baldwin, Member of Parliament for West Worcestershire, which urged the HOSC's consideration of the matter. (Link Nurseries is a horticultural therapy centre, a vocational service in Malvern Link, run by Worcestershire Health and Care Trust.As a result of savings targets and developments for Employment and Reablement Services, the current vocational centres will be replaced by an outreach model.)

Ms Aldridge spoke about the role and success of the Friends group in raising funds and awareness for this community provision, which was viewed very positively. Observations about the way in which the removal of funding had been handled included the fact that news on 1 October of the potential closure had been communicated through a whistleblower. Although the consultation workshops had been positive, it was felt that they were 'just paying lip service' and that the intention was to close the nurseries. The centre served very vulnerable people, who were very distressed about the situation. A steering group meeting on 18 December had been constructive and encouraging, but it was felt that the Trust had fallen back on the offer of support to help develop a business case (to enable the nurseries to continue as a social enterprise). It was felt unrealistic to expect the Friends group to be able to set this up within such a short time frame. The HOSC was urged to encourage more consideration from the Trust.

HOSC members acknowledged the financial pressures, but expressed concern about the potential loss of Link Nurseries. Cllr Raine expressed great concern and pointed out that should he be elected as Chairman of Malvern Hills District Council, he intended to make mental health a priority.

Cllr Grove declared an interest in his role as Leader of Malvern Hills District Council, and urged that compassion be shown to the Friends of Link Nurseries group.

The Director of Strategy and Business Development acknowledged the difficulty of the situation for everyone involved. The scale of savings required in Adult Mental Health, made it inevitable that the redesign plans had needed to take this into account, and look at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 775.

From Kidderminster, concern was expressed about media reports of the possible closure of a GP-led Unit at Kidderminster Hospital. The scrutiny team would check this situation with commissioners, as a matter of urgency.

Cllr Grove raised concern about the impact on patients of the on-going junior doctors' strikes. Consideration would be given to scrutiny of this issue.

From Redditch, concerns were reported about use of the community telephone number for cancer patients, and around patient experience – referencing Cllr Hill's experience of trying to access physical treatment for a ligature wound of a patient in mental health care.

The Democratic Governance and Scrutiny Manager explained that the 2016/17 scrutiny work programme was being developed and that the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board had agreed that this would include greater consultation with various groups, stakeholders and the public.

Health Overview and Scrutiny members were invited to suggest topics, and the following were put forward:

·         Extension to the temporary changes to maternity, neonatal and gynaecology services – members were concerned that the extension made the temporary change more permanent, although the situation was complex as this was also the intended direction of travel. Clarification would be sought about the latest position and an update was due at the next meeting

·         Annual Public Health Report for Worcestershire – suggested by the new Interim Director of Public Health

·         Domestic Abuse – following a recent presentation from West Mercia's Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre to Scrutiny at Worcester City Council's

·         Remit of the Health and Well-Being Board

·         Sustainable Transformation Plans (Worcestershire working with Herefordshire to plan health and care services)

·         NHS 111 Service

·         Role of community hospitals and relationship with acute hospitals

·         Care UK

·         Dentistry