Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall

Contact: Emma James / Jo Weston  Overview and Scrutiny Officers

Items
No. Item

931.

Apologies and Welcome

Minutes:

Apologies had been received from Mr C B Taylor and Mrs J Till.

932.

Declarations of Interest and of any Party Whip

Minutes:

None.

933.

Public Participation

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 17 September 2019). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

Minutes:

None.

934.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Previously circulated

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 27 June 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

935.

Dental Services in Worcestershire pdf icon PDF 102 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Attending for this Item were:

 

NHS England and NHS Improvement (Midlands) – NHSE&I

Nuala Woodman, Deputy Head of Commissioning (Dental)

Howard Thompson, Supplier Manager (Dental)

 

Public Health England (West Midlands) - PHE

Anna Lee Hunt, Consultant in Dental Public Health

 

Worcestershire County Council - WCC

Rachael Leslie, Public Health Consultant

 

By way of introduction, Members were reminded that NHSE&I commissioned dental services and worked with partner organisations to ensure equity of service and supply across the region, WCC had a responsibility for promoting and monitoring oral health and PHE had a responsibility to support both NHSE&I and WCC.

 

Officers suggested taking each of the subject areas in order, which the Committee agreed to.

 

Dental Access and Starting Well Initiative

 

Members were guided through the presentation, which had been circulated as part of the Agenda and the following key points were highlighted:

 

·         There were 67 dental practices in Worcestershire, with 3 dental access centres (Worcester, Malvern and Evesham)

·         In 2018/19 252,000 patients were seen by an NHS Dentist

·         For the same period, NHSE&I commissioned 767,422 units of dental activity, with 66% of practices delivering their contracted activity within tolerance levels and 22 practices delivering in full

·         There were 41,431 unused units of dental activity, from the contracted level, equivalent to 13,607 patients

·         A previously closed practice in Worcester City (St Johns) had re-opened

·         NHS Representatives were not aware of any pinch points in the County, but reported that they were looking at provision in Upton upon Severn at present, which could result in a spot purchase being approved

·         Contracts awarded were highly regulated and did not allow for much flexibility, however, monies could be clawed back if activity was not within tolerance levels and equally practices could ‘gift’ activity to ensure better coverage in a particular area

·         Patients could go to any practice and there was no need to be registered. Public Health England would investigate any practices who were turning patients away

·         Generally, patients looking for an NHS dentist would look on the NHS website, however the point was made that dentists have no obligation to update the website, so the information presented was unreliable.  NHS England were trying to make it a contractual obligation for dentists to update information

·         Reference was made to the Healthwatch Worcestershire Report ‘Going to the Dentist, February 2019’, which it was reported was felt to be generally positive by NHS England

·         Starting Well was an oral health campaign designed to get more babies to the dentist before their first teeth came through.  Training had been given to Practice Staff and there had been widespread communication to engage with families.

 

   In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were raised:

·         Generally, Members felt that access to dental services was not an issue for their residents.  It was noted that some dentists were no longer taking NHS patients, but in the main, access was good

·         A Member asked how the Starting Well campaign was engaging with families particularly those that were hard  ...  view the full minutes text for item 935.

936.

Health Overview and Scrutiny Round-up pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman reported on the recent news that West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) University NHS Foundation Trust had retained its Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission.  In addition, they would take over the running of the 111 service from November 2019.  Although WMAS had lost the non-emergency patient transport service contract, the Chairman reported that HOSC would be able to monitor the situation from contract commencement next year.

 

The Chairman had requested a briefing note from Officers on s106 funding, which would be circulated after the meeting.

 

The Vice Chairman reported developments in relation to Evesham Hospital, whereby Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was no longer undertaking minor surgery at Evesham Hospital but had expanded the County endoscopy service.  It was suggested that communication with stakeholders had been poor.

937.

Work Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was nothing to add at this time.