Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies had been received from Councillors Jones, Robson, Stribley, Wilson and Louise Bate from Healthwatch.

Councillor L-J Evans attended remotely, forgoing any voting rights.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Councillor Hedges substituted for Councillor Stribley and Councillor Borthwick substituted for Councillor Jones.

Councillor Hedges, as Chairman of the Council presided over the next item on the Agenda, Election of Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillors are asked to elect the Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that Councillor Jackie Edwards be elected as Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the ensuing 2022/23 Municipal Year.

Councillors are asked to elect the Vice-Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that Councillor L-J Evans be elected as Vice Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the ensuing 2022/23 Municipal Year.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Councillor Johnson declared a personal interest as a Staff Nurse employed by the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Councillor Matthews declared a personal interest as a Governor of Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust and Councillor L-J Evans declared a personal interest as a bank employee for University Hospitals Dorset.

To confirm the Minutes of the Health and Adults Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 March 2022.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Health and Adults Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 March 2022, having previously been circulated, be agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To note and comment as required on the action sheet which tracks decisions, actions and outcomes arising from previous Committee meetings.

The Chair advised of a meeting in June for the findings of the Carers Review.

The Vice Chair requested an update on writing to MPs and Cabinet discussions relating to Carers.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of a public question is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

There were no public issued received on this occasion.

For the Committee to receive an update on the Outpatient Assessment Centre at Dorset Health Village.

The Deputy Director Design and Transformation presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The purpose of the Report was to update the Committee on the Outpatient Assessment Centre @ Dorset Health Village. The Outpatient Assessment Centres (OAC) @ Dorset Health Village Poole became operational on the 16 November 2021.

The Outpatient Assessment Centre was a new health space located in the heart of the community on the 2nd floor of an active retail store (Beales), financed by NHS Funding and was delivered in response to the waiting list pressures in Dorset. Supported by the VSCE sector, BCP Planners, and commercial partners, its delivery model improved productivity, using the same healthcare workforce, with only the addition of a small operational team, supplemented by volunteers acting as Patient Navigators.

The Centre was constructed using repurposed material form the Nightingales, it used extant public transport networks and was integrated into the wider green agenda for Poole. Co-deigned with clinicians, Live Well and Active Dorset, and working with Social Prescribing partners and the academic community, it focused on the holistic approach to people centric care. In addition, it supported the healthy high street agenda, using the NHS as anchor institution to create the high street as a destination and increase footfall. The first of its type, it was setting the benchmark for other systems in the UK to build the hospital from the outside and was truly collaborative in its approach.

The Committee discussed the report and comments included:

• Several Committee Members praised the project and wanted to thank all the staff involved in making it an outstanding success
• In response to a query regarding how long funding was available for the project, the Committee was advised that it was a three-year project, with the option to increase to four.  The Committee was advised that it formed part of the project to take some health services to the high street and away from hospital sites.  It was highlighted that wellbeing hubs nearer the community was the future way of working of the Integrated Care Partnership
• The Committee was advised that partners including Community Action Network (CAN) were working together to create a living space within the Dolphin Centre to signpost health care, social care, and voluntary services to all come together in one accessible place
• The Portfolio Holder for People and Homes echoed the praise given and advised of a personal good experience of the outpatient centre.  She did highlight one issue in accessing the centre which she found off-putting, and the Deputy Director Design and Transformation advised he would take the feedback back to the team
• In response to a query regarding the Boscombe Hub, the Committee was advised that site options were still being considered
• The opening hours were clarified, and it was noted that it was currently 8am-6pm, but that it could be opened at weekends and was designed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

In 2020 both BCP Council and Dorset Council, Partners, Public Health Dorset and the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group established a multi-agency Pan Dorset suicide prevention programme (SP) as part of the national SP programme.

This report provides an update on the six key workstreams within the pan-Dorset programme and also progress on BCP Council’s own Suicide prevention plan, one year since publication.

Overall, there has been significant progress in promoting suicide prevention and wider mental wellbeing agendas through communications, training and support services.

Some areas of work have been hampered by the pandemic and other factors. A new national strategy is anticipated later this year and plans locally will need to be reviewed in light of these through the Suicide Prevention Steering Group and Council’s Corporate Management Board.

The Director of Adult Social Care Commissioning (Interim), Principal Programme Lead, NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, Assistant Director of Public Health presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.  The Committee was also provided with a PowerPoint presentation.

In 2020 both BCP Council and Dorset Council, Partners, Public Health Dorset, and the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group established a multi-agency Pan Dorset suicide prevention programme (SP) as part of the national SP programme.

The report provided an update on the six key workstreams within the pan-Dorset programme and progressed BCP Council’s own Suicide prevention plan, one year since publication.

Overall, there had been significant progress in promoting suicide prevention and wider mental wellbeing agendas through communications, training, and support services.

Some areas of work had been hampered by the pandemic and other factors. A new national strategy was anticipated later this year and plans locally would need to be reviewed considering these through the Suicide Prevention Steering Group and Council’s Corporate Management Board.

The Portfolio Holder for Tourism and Active Health advised that he received a briefing and had been involved with the programme for a while and wanted to highlight his support for the Suicide Prevention programme.  He highlighted the complexities of what was involved and how pleased that talking about suicide prevention was becoming more open with frank discussions really welcomed.

The Committee discussed the report and presentation and comments were made, including:

• In response to a query, warm transfer was explained as being connected on the phone straight to an appropriate organisation/service
• The Vice Chair thanked everyone involved and agreed that this had been a stigmatised topic for too long
• In response to a query regarding the real time surveillance data the Committee was advised of the issues surrounding collecting it, however, were informed some insights had been made from 18 months of good data. This could be shared with the Committee at some point, however the sharing of such sensitive information needed to be approached with caution. 
• In response to when the data could be shared, the Committee was advised that there was some data available until November last year which could be shared if helpful. ACTION.

·       The Chairman of the Council provided a very detailed contribution to Committee on his own personal experiences with losing a loved-one to suicide. His statement included many references to the services that were on offer to the individual in question whilst outlining the benefits, challenges, difficulties, and failings of many of these services. The Committee heard that the Chairman was in full support of report and noted Workstream 6 2.12, as referenced in the report, and hoped that this would be achieved quickly. The Chairman also referred to the High Sheriff’s Project “Harmony in Dorset”, being worked upon by Bournemouth University, of which he hoped to be increasingly involved with as Chairman of BCP Council.

·       A Committee Member highlighted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

For the Committee to be updated on the Integrated Care Strategy and to involve Members at an early stage in the principles, approach and timelines for developing the strategy.

The Director of Public Health Dorset shared a PowerPoint presentation with the Committee regarding the Dorset Health and Care System which included:

• Developing health and care systems
• ICS ambitions
• Collaboration
• Meeting ambitions
• Dorset health and care system
• NHS Dorset
• Partnerships
• Challenges
• Getting best value for public pound
• Dorset health and care partnership
• Partnership responsibilities
• ICP strategy requirements
• Progress to date
• Engagement approach
• 100 conversations
• Join the conversation
• ICP Strategy Development Timeline @ April 2022

The Committee discussed the presentation and comments were made, including:

• In response to a query regarding how engagement with the non-digitally would be undertaken, the Committee was advised it would take various forms, including face to face in-depth interviews, digital engagement platforms and more informal face to face chats in a variety of settings
• A Committee Member expressed their excitement about this work and wanted to know if there was going to be work with other organisations, it was highlighted there was a health inequalities group who had been working with the Institute for Health Equity developing a health inequality strategy, initially very focused on NHS, however it was stressed that there was a lot of work which could be done within the community to strengthen the strategy
• In response to a query regarding financing the scheme, the Committee was advised of the need to improve efficiency, streamline and provide care closer to people’s homes and that communication to find solutions with local Leaders was a positive step towards achieving this
• In response to a question from the Chair about any resistance to the proposed changes, the Committee was advised that the real proof would be seen when the Integrated Care Partnership Strategy was signed off and whether it was taken seriously regarding the differences to how resources were used to address priorities
• In response to a query about how the change would be implemented, the Committee was advised that the strategy was important to provide a clear pathway, but collaboration was already happening around some very important issues such as suicide prevention.  It was noted that barriers which prevented collaboration were being removed and full advantage of that needed to be realised at the earliest opportunity
• The Portfolio Holder for People and Homes wanted to thank all the Officers and the Leader of BCP who had pushed to get a representative from BCP on the Integrated Care Strategy Board and felt the willingness of leaders to collaborate would make a real difference
• The Portfolio Holder for Tourism and Active Health concluded that BCP had been proactive in developing and felt that the reduction of Councils in Dorset to two enabled better working relations between them and NHS Dorset.

RESOLVED that the presentation be noted.

To receive any updates from the relevant Portfolio Holders on key issues or actions that have been taken since the last meeting, as appropriate.

The Director of Public Health Dorset provided a verbal update on Covid on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for People and Homes and highlighted how rates had fallen.  It was acknowledged that there had been a reduction in the number of people testing, but advised that approximately 200 tests were carried out daily across Dorset which clearly showed that the wave had receded. The Committee was advised of two further variants of Omicron, which were being monitored and were currently not of concern in this country.

In response to a query regarding Monkey pox, the Committee was advised that it was a national incident being led by the UK Health Security Agency, who were working hard to understand its extent however it did not appear to be any cause for concern locally.

The Portfolio Holder for Tourism and Active Health enquired whether the Committee would like an update regarding the approval of the budget at the Public Health Board, but it was decided that should be provided later.

The Portfolio Holder for People and Homes advised that the Director of Public Health Dorset had covered some of the items she wanted to provide updates on, however highlighted:

• Contact centre was going from strength to strength, early intervention, and support
• Extra care housing steering group which was identifying potential sites which were being considered
• Care technology was progressing at pace, engaging, and developing lifeline and careline
• Adult Social Care had restructured adult hospital discharge leading to people leaving hospital earlier
• Further recruitment of shared lives carers plus additional support living places for adults with learning disabilities
• It was advised that Carers week would take place from 7-12 June 2022
• The Committee was advised that an update on the Health and Wellbeing Board would be provided later due to a delay in government guidance being provided
• The Chair enquired whether a letter had been drafted to local MPs asking them to review the informal carers allowance ACTION – discuss with Officers to see if this had been progressed
• Promoting care work was discussed and the Committee was advised that work had been ongoing with job centres, so care providers had a dedicated space within job centres to engage and interview potential care workers.  It was noted it was a 3-month pilot so feedback could be provided once concluded.

The Chair referred to the Carers Conference which was scheduled on 7 June from 9.30-12:30 and requested feedback be given on the time of it, mornings were the busiest time for carers which would make it impossible for them to attend.

To consider and comment as appropriate on the development of the Committee’s Forward Plan.

In response to a query about when the Committee could receive an update on Tricuro, it was advised that this item would come as soon as possible and that the Director – Commissioning for People could possibly give a brief verbal update on the transition from two to one at the Committee’s meeting in July. ACTION – add to Forward Plan

The Council at its meeting on 10 May agreed to delegate authority to the Overview and Scrutiny bodies to agree their own meeting dates for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 municipal years.

The Council agreed that there would be 5 meetings scheduled in each municipal year. These will need to be set with reference to the current Council Calendar.

The Committee agreed the date for its next meeting as 25 July 2022 at 6pm.