Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Wallasey Town Hall

Contact: Mike Jones, Principal Democratic Services Officer  Tel: 0151 691 8363 email:  michaeljones1@wirral.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

27.

Welcome and Introductions

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting as well as those watching the webcast.

 

28.

Apologies

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Minutes:

Apologies had been received from:

Cllr Brenda Hall who was substituted by Cllr Kaitlin Stuart

Cllr Tony Murphy who was substituted by Cllr Graeme Cooper

Cllr Mary Jordan who was substituted by Cllr Andrew Hodson

29.

Member Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to consider whether they have 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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests and any other relevant interest and to state the nature of the interest. Councillor Mike Sullivan declared a personal interest as his oldest daughter was a doctor in the NHS. 

30.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 99 KB

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024 be agreed by assent.

 

The Chair agreed that item 8 on the agenda could be heard first and the minutes would reflect the order of the agenda.

 

31.

Public Questions

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A public question had been received from John Brace. The Head of Legal Services read out the question as follows:

 

Are there plans to merge (in the future) Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust as part of the Wirral Place review or are the plans as part of the Wirral Place review just for closer collaboration between these two trusts?

 

The Chair confirmed that the answer would be provided to John Brace in writing.

 

(Subsequently, the following answer was given:

There were no plans to merge Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.  The plans, following the Wirral Place Review, were for closer collaboration between the two organisations.  Work was progressing to implement a preferred model for collaboration and integration which included:

 

• Shared leadership through the appointment of a joint Chair and joint Chief Executive.

• The establishment of an Integration Programme Board to oversee integration and collaboration between both organisations.

• The delivery of service improvements to further build effective partner relationships across the health and care system and support better outcomes for the people of Wirral.

 

This was a positive development in joining up NHS services in Wirral.  These changes will accelerate the alignment of services and clinical pathways, which will reduce unwarranted variation and help improve outcomes for local people.)

 

32.

LGA Peer Review for Learning Disability and Autism pdf icon PDF 133 KB

The PDF file may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices. Please contact bridgethollingsworth@wirral.gov.uk if you would like this document in an accessible format.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Integrated Services presented the report of the Director of Adults, Health and Strategic Commissioning which provided a summary of the proposed system wide programme of change, and how it will be assessed and evaluated to make sure that investments were going into the things that will have the greatest impact and ensure the voices of the Wirral community were heard. In July 2024, Wirral, Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Councils engaged in a piece of work commissioned by the National Health Service England and supported by the Local Government Association (LGA). The three Councils all had an NHS Provider in common with the Cheshire and Wirral NHS Partnership Trust. This review explored local social care and health provision for autistic people and people with a learning disability. The LGA wanted to know how as a system we were enabling people to live in an ordinary house, in an ordinary street with access to their own front door and to feel seen, heard and respected. It was reported that areas suggested by the LGA would inform the emerging programme of change to ensure that investments made as a system by the Council and ICB are targeted at the right areas.

 

A lack of shared governance to drive improvements was highlighted and there

will be a work stream of the All Age Disability Strategy which will be reported into the Cheshire and Merseyside Learning Disability and Autism Board.

It was highlighted that there could be advantages to experts working in partnership with other providers such as the domiciliary care market working with specialist providers which could create a different offer. It was noted that there was a real commitment to increasing paid employment and strong pathways were emerging.  Another area of reflection in the report was a partnership group which would include practitioners such as social workers as they were often people closest to the person that is being assessed, people with lived experience, carers, providers and the ICB 

 

It was recognised that Public Health data must underpin anything that the Council commissioned as without it health and social equity for people with disability and autistic people could not be secured.

 

The importance of supporting staff in the management of behaviours that put individuals at risk was highlighted.

 

Members asked about the development of the easy read and the development of autistic people and people with learning disabilities in the workforce.

 

A member question about the waiting times for children to be assessed for autism on the Wirral in relation to the rest of the country would be put to the SEND Improvement Board for a written response. 

 

Resolved – That

 

1. The outcomes of the review undertaken by the LGA be noted.

2. The content of the strategic system wide plan in response to the review be noted and be assured that the voices of the Wirral community will be heard.

3. A report be agreed to be brought to a future committee demonstrating the impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

COUNCIL PLAN PERFORMANCE REPORT QUARTER 1 2024-25 THEME: PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE AND HEALTHIER LIVES pdf icon PDF 101 KB

The PDF file may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices. Please contact nancyclarkson@wirral.gov.uk if you would like this document in an accessible format.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Adults, Health and Strategic Commissioning presented the report which provided a quarterly performance report in relation to the Council Plan: Wirral Working Together 2023-27. The key theme for Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee was the ‘Promoting independence and healthier lives’ theme.

 

Areas of significant interest in the report were highlighted. There had been an increase in both the number of people supported by AI and the percentage of adults with a learning disability who live in their own home or with their family. Three areas were highlighted which required improvement: people living independently for longer; people getting the right care at the right time; and reduction in inequalities in health.

 

The average weekly cost of supporting people through residential care and nursing care had increased in the Borough. There were a number of reasons for this including that Wirral Council was committed to paying the real and national living wage to make sure that workers were being paid properly. It was recognised that the care sector and residential nursing homes had seen significant increases in overheads, gas and electric and costs of equipment. The increase in inflation was also a factor. The Council had continued to do what it could to ensure that the fee increases were in line with inflation and fair and reasonable in terms of the national requirements.

 

Members asked questions about social prescribing and hospital discharge planning and letters. It was clarified to Members that there was a range of social prescribing offered within Wirral for people to build activity and relationship building into their daily lives.

 

A concern could be raised about integrated planning for hospital discharge and discharge letters in the integrated care service and work was planned around improving digital access to records. It was recognised that any good practice that had not already been tried could be identified and used in Wirral. The biggest challenge was to ensure that there was access to electronic patient records for the right organisations.

 

It was clarified to Members that the 2020 birth figures were the latest ONS figures.

 

Resolved – That the content of the report be noted and be referred up to Policy & Resources Committee.

34.

WIRRAL UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST QUALITY ACCOUNT 2023 - 2024 pdf icon PDF 145 KB

The PDF file may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices. Please contact catherine.cumberlidge@nhs.net if you would like this document in an accessible format.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Medical Director, Wirral University Teaching Hospital presented the report of the Medical Director and Chief Nurse which provided the Quality Account (2023-24) of Wirral University Teaching Hospitals (WUTH) NHS Foundation Trust for approval.  The Quality Account highlighted the progress of the quality priorities agreed for 2023-24, the details of the agreed quality priorities for 2024-25 and provided an update on work that had been undertaken, the progress made in improving the quality of WUTH’s services and identified areas for improvement. It was highlighted that two of the 2023-2024 quality priorities had been fully achieved and particular thanks was given to partners in the Local Authority for the success of the transfer of care hub.

 

There were three quality priorities for 2024-2025: management of deteriorating patients and WUTH was a pilot sight for Martha’s rule which encouraged parents or carers to escalate concerns; further work around communication and discharge and the patient portal would help greatly as patients could now view their discharge letters; incidence of C-Difficile which was high on Wirral and it was reported that WUTH were working with the Integrated Care Board and the Community Trust on how to reduce the impact on patients.

 

Members asked about the routes out of hospital and whether the provision was of the right sort. It was explained to Members that the Local Authority had worked with WUTH to develop a strong partnership and they were focussing on admission avoidance. There was sufficient capacity in the domiciliary care market to facilitate the discharge from hospital.

 

Members asked about the timing of framework applications, and market sustainability was discussed.

 

Winter preparedness as a system was discussed and the plans within the hospital to create capacity with appropriate staff and virtual wards with a multidisciplinary team. The Associate Director of Quality and Safety Improvement discussed winter preparedness and highlighted that it was about communicating with people about keeping well which included keeping warm, vaccinations and protection from flu, COVID and respiratory infections.

 

Members discussed the pressure to recruit staff and the low uptake of flu vaccinations by staff.

 

Members also asked about the release of paramedics on arrival at hospital.

 

Resolved - That the contents of this report for information be noted and approved.

35.

ADULT SOCIAL CARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME UPDATE pdf icon PDF 137 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Adult Social Care and Pubic Health Committee introduced this report which presented the future work programme of the Committee.

 

Additional items were suggested including:

·  Wirral Adult Safeguarding Board scrutiny ideas

 

It was agreed that Cllr Kathy Hodson as the Member Champion of Domestic Violence would be involved in the set-up of the White Ribbon event.

 

Resolved  - That (subject to the changes noted above) the proposed Adult Social Care and Public health Committee work programme for the remainder of the 2024/25 municipal year be noted.