Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Worcester

Contact: Emma James / Jo Weston  Overview and Scrutiny Officers

Items
No. Item

907.

Apologies and Welcome

Minutes:

Apologies had been received from Mr M Chalk, Mr M Johnson and Mr R P Tomlinson.

908.

Declarations of Interest and of any Party Whip

Minutes:

None.

909.

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 4 March 2019). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

Minutes:

None.

910.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Previously circulated

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 November 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

911.

NHS Long Term Plan pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Attending for this Item were:

 

Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG)

Simon Trickett, Accountable Officer

 

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP)

Charles Waddicor, Independent Chair

 

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust (WHCT)

Sue Harris, Director of Strategy and Partnerships of and STP Communications and Engagement Lead

 

Worcestershire County Council

Frances Howie, Director of Public Health

 

Healthwatch Worcestershire

Peter Pinfield, Chairman

Simon Adams, Chief Operating Officer

 

Representatives from across the health economy had been invited to the meeting and by way of presentation (available on the website), outlined the background to the national NHS Long Term Plan, what engagement events were planned locally and what the Plan would mean for the residents of Worcestershire.

 

The Committee was reminded that the national NHS Long Term Plan was launched on 7 January 2019 with five main themes:

 

·         a new service model for the 21st century

·         reducing pressure pressure on emergency hospital services

·         people would get more control over their own health and personalised care when they needed it

·         digitally-enabled primary and outpatient care would go mainstream across the NHS

·         local NHS organisations would increasingly focus on population health, moving to Integrated Care Systems everywhere.

 

The Plan suggested that there would be changes to primary care contracts and a shift of clinical leadership focus with additional funding for non GP Practice staff, such as social prescribers and physios.  In addition, there would be greater emphasis on same day emergency care with a greater proportion of patients not becoming an inpatient by having diagnostics and treatment more readily available.  Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) would also cover the whole country by April 2021 with more streamlined commissioning arrangements, typically involving a single CCG for each ICS/STP area.

 

Action on prevention had already been implemented, but the Plan would aim for more targeted support for weight management, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, a BMI of 30+ and smoking cessation.  In addition, alcohol care teams would be established.

 

Elective, or planned, surgery numbers would grow implying that waiting lists would be reduced.  Missed targets would potentially incur fines, where both hospitals and CCGs would be fined if any patient had to wait more than 52 weeks.

 

The Plan also sets out its plan for workforce by increasing nurse undergraduate places by 25% from 2019/20, increasing nursing associates by 50% in 2019/20 and increasing medical school places from 6,000 to 7,500 a year.  Further retention incentives were suggested including a new GP Indemnity Scheme.  In addition, the new GP contract would increase core funding by £978m every year by 2023/24.  

 

It was reported that 2019/20 would be a transitional year for finance, with all NHS organisations expected to get back to balance by 2023/24.  There would be reforms to the current payment system, moving from an activity based payment to a population based payment system.  Further financial controls were also cited and the implementation of the Long Term Plan would provide a duty on CCGs and providers to collaborate.

 

In relation to the current Worcestershire position,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 911.

912.

Health Overview and Scrutiny Round-up pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman and Mrs Rayner had attended the latest West Midlands Ambulance Trust meeting and reported that the there was now a paramedic on every ambulance.  30% of patients who called an ambulance were not being taken to hospital.  Ambulances had still been queueing at acute hospital emergency departments and Worcestershire had been a particular issue for this. 

913.

Work Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee agreed that there was nothing to add to the Work Programme at this time.

 

In relation to the item for the Committee’s April meeting about Quality and Performance of the Acute Hospitals, it was noted that the CQC had carried out an unannounced inspection in January 2019 responding to information received about care of patients.  Its report on this had been published on 1 March and referred to significant overcrowding of the accident and emergency department.