Agenda and draft minutes

The following interests were declared in business items to be considered at the meeting.

Agenda Item 5:  Development of a Community Hospital in Rhyl – a personal interest was declared by Councillor R.L. Feeley.  The reason for the declaration was that the Councillor Feeley was an Independent Board Member on the Betsi Cadwaladr University Board.

No items were raised which in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

To receive minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 14^th January, 2016 (copy attached).

The Minutes of a meeting of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 14^th January, 2016 were submitted.

Matters arising:-

Item No 7. Scrutiny Work Programme – In reply to a question from the Chair, the Scrutiny Coordinator confirmed that there were no meetings rooms available at the offices in Brighton Road, Rhyl for the next meeting of the Committee.  Members were informed the meeting, on the 14^th April, 2016, would be held in the Council Chamber, Russell House, Rhyl.

RESOLVED – that, subject to the above, the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record.

To consider a presentation by representatives of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board on their current and future intentions with respect to the Royal Alexandra Hospital site, Rhyl.

                                                                                       9.35 a.m. – 10.15 a.m.

The Committee received a presentation from representatives of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board on their current and future intentions with respect to the Royal Alexandra Hospital Site, Rhyl.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s (BCUHB) Executive Director of Strategy and its Area Director of Clinical Services (Central Area) attended the meeting to update Members on the progress to date with the above project.  It was explained that the presentation had been brought to the meeting amid concerns that the project did not seem to be coming into fruition.  BCUHB advised the Committee that:-

·                      The Strategic Outline Case (SOC) for a hospital in north Denbighshire had been approved by the Welsh Government (WG) in December 2013 and despite the time lapse the WG’s support for the scheme remained;

·                      the project was now at the Outline Business Case (OBC) stage – this stage required extensive engagement with partner organisations, third sector bodies, the public and Health Board staff in order to draw up a service scope and detailed plans for the project;

·                      as a result of engaging with the above partners the proposed service scope included the following areas:  inpatient services, outpatient clinics, diagnostics, therapy services, community dental services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); sexual health services, Single Point of Access (SPoA)/integrated working base and a community hub (café, third sector and meeting rooms);

·                      having regard to the number of services that would be housed on the site if all the services listed in the service scope were accommodated, individual services had been assessed to determine whether they would suitable to be co-located on the same site e.g. CAMHS with additional children’s services, integrated health and social care services etc.  In addition potential sites had been assessed to confirm whether they had the required capacity to accommodate a number of co-located community services;

·                      following two separate assessments the site of the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Rhyl had been identified as the preferred site, despite the design limitations and added cost premium the current hospital building’s listed status would place on the Health Board as the developer;

·                      one of the actions in BCUHB’s special measures recovery action plan was that it had to communicate better with its stakeholders, which included residents and local authorities.  As part of this, during the summer of 2015, it had undertaken a ‘listening exercise’ to determine what its priorities should be going forward.  These priorities and conforming with the requirements of the Social Services and Well-Being Act 2014, would shape any future service proposals approved by the BCUHB going forward;

·                      as the result of the above community conversation exercise the following six strategic priorities had been agreed:-

Ø      to shift the focus of health services towards prevention and health improvement, consequently current services would need to be realigned to deliver this aspiration;

Ø      strengthen primary and community care, with particular emphasis on new models of care outside the traditional hospital care model;

Ø      provide more integrated care by developing stronger partnerships with other sectors e.g. local government, third sector, carers and the community;

Ø      provide hospital based services that deliver the best possible outcomes for people and that are sustainable for the future;

Ø      to ensure that the patient would be the central focus of every aspect of the Board’s work; and

Ø      to develop, manage and value the Health Board’s workforce and all its other assets and resources in order to support the Board’s vision and strategic priorities across the areas;

·                      BCUHB’s vision for a north Denbighshire hospital fitted-in with the above strategic priorities and the Board was committed to delivering the scheme,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a report by the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) Co-ordinator (copy attached) on the follow up to the annual performance report for Adult Protection presented to Partnership Scrutiny in November, 2015.

                                                                                      10.25 a.m. – 11.05 a.m.

A copy of a report by the POVA Co-ordinator (PC) had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

The Head of Community Support Services (HCSS) introduced the report and advised that the report was presented to Members, at their request, as a follow-up to the annual report for 2014/15 which the Committee had considered in November, 2015, as Members wanted assurances around the management of risk to individuals who had been identified at risk of abuse.  He advised that:-

·                     across Denbighshire there were circa 1,300 care home beds;

·                     73 referrals of alleged abuse had been brought to a conclusion in 2014/15; 56 of these referrals alleged that the abuse had been committed within either a care or residential home or in the individual’s own home, of which 42 were alleged to have taken place within a residential or nursing home;

·                     details of how the risk was managed for the individuals concerned were listed in the report;

·                     criminal prosecutions in these types of cases were rare, there had only been one during 2014/15 – in some cases the individual concerned or their family did not wish to press charges once the risk had been removed;

·                     whilst the local authority dealt with Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) referrals, not all  allegations received concerned care staff. A case study included in the report highlighted how one referral investigated was actually against a member of staff from the Health Service, other allegations were against family members or friends;

Responding to members’ questions the Head of Community Support Services and the Service Manager:  Specialist Services confirmed that:-

·                     the Health Service was responsible for providing pressure mattresses, and it was increasing the number of mattresses it ordered;

·                     care home owners were, on the whole, co-operative with POVA referral inquiries and generally complied with any associated recommendations, because if their home was noted as under ‘escalating concerns’ it damaged their business;

·                         at any one time there was usually a couple of care home in the county under ‘escalating concerns’.  The Council would not refer potential new residents to those homes whilst they were under ‘escalating concerns’;

·                     allegations of a sexual nature were quite difficult to investigate, they could also range from very minor allegations to very serious ones;

·                     all allegations should be reported to the Council, even if the individual did not want to proceed with the investigation, as this would help the Council identify areas of concern or patterns of behaviour before they escalated;

·                     if alleged abuse took place within a family setting, whilst Social Services would always inform the Police it would be up to the individual, if he/she had the mental capacity, or family members otherwise to agree whether to proceed with a criminal investigation and/or press charges.  In such cases the Social Services Department would always make arrangements to keep the vulnerable person safe from harm’s way;

·                     recruitment of suitably qualified nurses was proving to be a particular problem for health services, including nursing home owners, at present;

·                     the publication of the report following the national review of domiciliary care was imminent.  This report was likely to highlight the problems encountered with 15 minute care calls.

Having regard to the fact that the county and the country had an ageing demographic profile, members felt that more work was required to highlight to residents the importance of preparing for their future needs i.e. drawing up Power of Attorney documents (POA), will writing etc.

Members thanked the officers for a very informative report and requested that the level of detail contained within the report be included as an appendix to future POVA Annual Reports.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy enclosed) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues.

                                                                                     11.05 a.m. – 11.15 a.m.

A copy of a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (SC), which requested the Committee to review and agree its Forward Work Programme and provided an update on relevant issues, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting. 

A copy of the ‘Member’s proposal form’ template had been included at Appendix 2, Cabinet’s Forward Work Programme had been included as Appendix 3, and a table summarising recent Committee resolutions and advising on progress with their implementation had been attached at Appendix 4. 

The Committee considered its draft Forward Work Programme for future meetings, Appendix 1, and the following amendments and additions were agreed:-

14^th April, 2016:-

The Committee was reminded that it had been agreed that an invitation to attend the meeting had been extended to Councillors S.A. Davies and T.R. Hughes to join Committee Members on a visit to the following locations in Rhyl after the meeting:-

-               Rhyl Harbour, Pont y Ddraig and Harbour Cafe.

-               Gerddi Heulwen.

-               Development of the Promenade.

-               Clwyd Alyn Housing Association Development.

-               Site for new Premiere Inn.

-               Scarborough Development.

In response to questions from Members, it was confirmed that an official site visit and tour of the new Rhyl High School complex had been arranged for all County Councillors on a separate date.

26^th May, 2016:-

It was explained by the Scrutiny Coordinator that the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Group would be meeting on the 3^rd March, 2016, when they would be considering a number of requests received from Members for possible items for various meetings.  Members were invited to complete and submit Member proposal forms, in respect of items they wished to be considered at future meetings.

The Scrutiny Coordinator requested that Members complete and submit the Self Evaluation Questionnaire Forms which had recently circulated.  The importance of completing the forms was emphasised as the Council would, later in the year, be subject to a corporate assessment.

Following further discussion, it was:-

RESOLVED – that, subject to the above, the Work Programme as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups

                                                                                      11.15 a.m. – 11.25 a.m.

No reports were received from Committee representatives.

Meeting ended at 11.55 a.m.