Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3 - Wallasey Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Patrick Sebastian  0151 691 8424

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chair

Appointment of Chair of the Wirral & Cheshire West and Chester Joint Health Scrutiny Committee, for this meeting.

Minutes:

The Acting Senior Manager Legal and Committee Services and Deputy Monitoring Officer (Wirral) invited nominations for the appointment of the Chair.

 

On a motion moved by Councillor Wendy Clements and seconded by Councillor Val Armstrong, it was –

 

RESOLVED (unanimously) – That Councillor Julie McManus be appointed Chair for the Joint Scrutiny of the Wirral / Cheshire West Urgent Care Review.

 

(Councillor McManus in the Chair)

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Members were asked to consider whether they had any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

 

Members were reminded that they should also declare whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

 

Councillor Sharon Jones declared a personal interest in the item under consideration by virtue of her employment within the NHS.

 

Councillor Ben Powell declared a personal interest by virtue of his forthcoming employment with the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (to commence in January 2019).

3.

Joint OSC Protocol pdf icon PDF 138 KB

The Joint Committee is requested to note the attached Protocol for the establishment and arrangements for Joint Scrutiny in Cheshire and Merseyside.

Minutes:

The Chair introduced the protocol that had been developed as a framework for the operation of joint health scrutiny arrangements across the local authorities of Cheshire and Merseyside. It allows for:

 

·  scrutiny of substantial developments and variations of the health service; and

·  discretionary scrutiny of local health services.

 

Members noted that the protocol provided a framework for health scrutiny arrangements which operate on a joint basis only.

 

Resolved – That the protocol for the operation of joint health scrutiny arrangements (Cheshire and Merseyside) be noted.

4.

Urgent Care Review pdf icon PDF 117 KB

At the request of the Cheshire West and Chester (CWAC) People Overview and Scrutiny Committee - a Joint Scrutiny Meeting has been convened to consider the impact of the Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group proposals for Urgent Care Services. CWAC have determined the proposed changes to urgent care to be a substantial development / substantial variation to the health service.

 

Report Papers and Minutes of the meeting of the Wirral Adult Health and Care (meeting jointly with Members of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee) (Minute 28, 12 November) attached.   (Pages 11 – 164)

 

Urgent Care Transformation Update additional background briefing papers, circulated to all Wirral Councillors 6 November 2018, also attached.  

(Pages 165 – 242).

 

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Chair’s Opening Remarks.

The Chair welcomed Members, Officers and members of the public to the meeting. With the agreement of the Committee the Chair then invited visiting Councillor Phil Gilchrist and Councillor Chris Carubia to the table. She informed the meeting that as Ward Councillors for Eastham Ward (the boundary of Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester) they had a detailed understanding of access to healthcare in that location and could provide the Committee with information on issues that may affect residents as a result of the proposal for the redesign of urgent care. It was noted that the visiting Councillors would not be entitled to a vote during the meetings proceedings.

 

Key Witnesses.

  • Mr Simon Banks – Chief Officer, Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
  • Dr Paula Cowan, G.P. Eastham Group Practice and Clinical Lead for Urgent Care for Wirral CCG
  • Ms Jacqui Evans – Assistant Director Planned Services, Wirral CCG
  • Mr Graham Hodkinson – Director for (Adult) Care and Health (Wirral)
  • Ms Laura Marsh – Director of Commissioning, NHS West Cheshire CCG
  • Dr Sue Wells - Chair,  Wirral CCG

 

Opening Presentation.

Doctor Paula Cowan and Ms Jacqui Evans provided the Committee with an overview of the proposals to alter the method by which patients would access urgent care treatment. Members noted that the proposals had been open to public consultation from 20 September 2018 to 12 December 2018. Following which, feedback received during the consultation period and other evidence would be reviewed by the NHS Wirral CCG Governing Body before a final decision on a future model of care was taken

 

Doctor Cowan and Ms Evans’ report informed that Wirral was not unique in the issues of people not always being able to get an urgent appointment at their own GP practice and how confusion about alternative services resulted in many people choosing to go to Wirral’s only Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at Arrowe Park Hospital.

 

Members were apprised that NHS England had mandated a number of new service developments which included an improved NHS 111 service and the introduction of Urgent Treatment Centre’s across the country. The national developments aimed to make urgent care services work better for patients and to ensure that Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments dealt with the most poorly and vulnerable people. Members were informed that it was Wirral CCG’s intention to locate the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) for Wirral at Arrowe Park Hospital by developing the existing Walk in Centre.  This location was believed to provide the best clinical model for patients as the UTC would be located adjacent to the Accident and Emergency Department and would provide a single ‘front door’ to access urgent care on the Arrowe Park site - to ensure A&E staff could concentrate their clinical skills on emergency care. 

 

Doctor Cowan and Ms Evans’ report informed that the UTC would offer bookable appointments and a walk-in facility and, as part of this consultation, the CCG was asking for people’s views on how many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.