The Committee considered the report and a presentation by the Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance regarding the current performance of the Directorate as at 30 November 2013 against the delivery of the Policy, Performance & Public Health Directorate Plan 2013-14.

The Directorate Plan Performance Report was appended to the report and set out performance against 13 measures.  A commentary was provided against each indicator.

Of the 13 measures that were RAG rated, 6 were rated green, 4 were rated amber and 3 were rated as red.  Action Plans have been developed for all the following three red indicators:

·  Take up of NHS Health check programme by those eligible (Healthcheck offered)

·  Proportion of opiate users that left drug treatment successfully who do not represent to treatment within 6 months

·  Smoking at the time of deliver (SATOD)

Ms Harvey indicated that in relation to action taken, Public Health had been working with GPs and re-issued guidance to assist with identifying the correct coding. The department had also seconded practice nurses who are now visiting GP surgeries to offer support and guidance, identifying any issues and encourage take up of the Health checks. There would also soon be a revision of contracts with GPs regarding the NHS Health Checks programme for the 2014-15 financial year.

Mr Kevin Carbery, Business Manager, Public Health indicated that since the publication of the report and the re-issue of the guidance, there had had been  an increase in take up and as a result the Quarter 3 figure for October/December now placed this item in the ‘amber’ category. Also, the  CSU would in future be capturing data after the end of the quarter and an internet resource had also been developed which provided GP practices with online training, referral forms and information on coding. It was hoped that with these measures in place the performance indicator would show a continual improvement.

In response to Members, Ms Harvey indicated that generally practice nurses undertook the health checks and that those patients at risk were referred to their GPs for further assessment.

In relation to data collation, Ms Harvey indicated that at present there was no accurate data as to where in the borough the low take up of health checks were but practice nurses would be working within the community to raise awareness. Officers were working with GPs to validate the information received; this enabled the right support to be given to those practices.

In response to a Member, Ms Harvey indicated a national evaluation had been undertaken on the outcomes/ improvements connected with health checks; estimates based on a previous national evaluation had reported that Wirral would save £1.3 million per year if practices undertook health checks effectively.

In relation to data sharing, Mr Carbery indicated that currently officers in Public Health were unable to access NHS data therefore, it was difficult to identify if patients had a referral. This had been raised with colleagues at Public Health England who were currently looking at the issue surrounding information governance to improve data sharing across all services.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Directorate Plan be noted and Ms Harvey, Ms Webster, Mr Rickwood and Mr Carbery be thanked for their attendance in relation to their exception reports; and

(2)  the information contained within the report be used to inform the Committee’s future work programme.