Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Ruthin
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APOLOGIES |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 59 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: Councillor Jeanette Chamberlain-Jones declared a personal interest in items 4, 5 and 6. |
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URGENT MATTERS AS AGREED BY THE CHAIR Notice of items 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. Minutes: No urgent matters. |
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At this juncture of the meeting, it was agreed by all present to vary the order of items on the Agenda to accommodate the representatives from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, two of which had previously scheduled meetings to attend in the afternoon. |
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BETSI CADWALADR UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD'S THREE YEAR PLAN 2015-2018 To consider a verbal report on the progress to date with the implementation and delivery of the Health Board’s three year plan. 9.35 am – 10.05 am Minutes: The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s (BCUHB)
Executive Director of Strategy (EDofS), Mr Geoff Lang, introduced the Three
Year Plan 2015-2018. The EDofS explained to members that prior to the Health
Board being put into Special Measures, discussions had taken place with the
Welsh Government (WG). During the
discussions it had been agreed that the Board would not draw up a three year
plan to start from 2015. The three year
plan would commence from the 2016/17 financial year onwards. For the current year, the Board, as part of
its improvement plan, would be concentrating on the following areas: ·
Reconnecting with the public, staff and
communications ·
Mental Health improvement ·
Obstetrics and Gynaecology ·
Corporate Governance, and ·
GP Out-of-Hours services. To improve communications and reconnect with staff and
stakeholders, the Board had attended numerous events, during the summer
months. The events included ones
arranged by the Board together with established shows and fairs which the
public regularly visited. The purpose of
attending the events was to try and re-engage with people and collate their
views on the Health Service in North Wales as to what had been working well and
which areas required improvement. The
feedback from the events would be analysed and the main conclusions and
findings would be provided at future public events to ascertain whether they
resonated with the general public’s view, prior to being utilised to plan
future service changes. The consultation regarding temporary changes to the
obstetrics and gynaecology services was currently taking place. Future consultations on the Mental Health
Service and the GP Out-of-Hours Service would also be taking place shortly. BCUHB representatives informed members of the following: ·
The Board was now in the process of developing
its financial plan and priorities for 2016/17 ·
Part of the planning included working with
Public Health Wales (PHW) on mapping health challenges and how to improve
health in general, including the work required in the region’s most deprived
areas. Work would also take place with Social Services to comply with the
requirements of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 ·
A meeting of the Board was scheduled to take
place during the second week in October to discuss how to balance their
priorities and the community’s priorities ·
The Board had to finalise and agree its Plan by
January 2016 to enable it to enter into discussions on the priorities with the
WG between January and March 2016 ·
On a local Conwy and Denbighshire level, they
were keen to reconnect with communities in both counties to discuss the Board
and the communities’ health and social care priorities on a local level. To facilitate this, a number of workshops
were to be arranged in October 2015 ·
The EDofS confirmed it had been crucial to open
a two way dialogue between Health and Social Care Services to ensure the needs
of the community would be met. Discussion took place and responding to Members’ questions,
BCUHB Officers: · Confirmed that the redevelopment of Ysbyty Glan Clwyd would be a large and complex project which had caused a lot of inconvenience for patients, staff and visitors alike. Whilst the initial aim had been to rid the building of asbestos, the Board had utilised the project as an opportunity to upgrade the fabric of the hospital and equip it with the latest medical facilities i.e. state of the art wards, theatres, Accident and Emergency Department, Critical Care Unit etc. The benefits of the redevelopment programme would become more visual on the opening of the new main entrance in October and when the first of the new wards were opened in November. Staff working in the ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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TEMPORARY CHANGES TO WOMEN'S AND MATERNITY SERVICES IN NORTH WALES PDF 554 KB To consider the proposals put forward by the Health Board for temporary changes to women’s and maternity services in North Wales (report attached) and to provide the Health Board with the Committee’s views on the proposals as part of the ‘Have Your Say’ consultation. 10.05 am – 10.45 am Minutes: The Betsi Cadwaladr
University Health Board’s (BCUHB) Assistant Director, Strategy and Engagement
(ADS&E), Sally Baxter, introduced the Temporary changes to Women’s and Maternity
Services in North Wales. “Have Your Say”. A copy of the summary version had been distributed to
members on publication of the committee papers. In her introduction, the ADS&E
emphasised that the proposed changes were a temporary measure until the
staffing situation could be stabilised.
The proposals involved temporary changes to the location of
consultant-led obstetrics, gynaecology and breast surgery services. Midwifery services and neo-natal services
would remain on all three sites. The
Board acknowledged that the proposals were a cause of great concern to
residents across the region, but it felt that something had to be done in the
interim to minimise the risk to expectant mothers and their babies. The Board’s preferred option was Option 4, temporary
changes to maternity services at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, as in its view it had the least significant
impact on travel and other services could be put in place quickly. The Board was open to suggestions, and all
four options were out for consultation until 5 October 2015. Members were advised that they could respond
as individuals and collectively as a Committee to the consultation. Members were also requested to encourage residents
within their wards to respond. Discussion took place on all options and responding to
Members’ questions, the ADS&E: ·
Informed members that an additional public
consultation event had been arranged for 2 October in Denbigh, with sessions
being held at 2.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m.
The ADS&E asked members to draw this to residents’ attention ·
Medical and technological advances had moved on
significantly since the time when the three district general hospitals were
built, as had the Deanery and national expectations for the health
service. There was much more emphasis
now on specialist medical centres of excellence and on moving patients out of
the hospital environment as soon as it was safe to do so ·
Reassured members that the Board would have
measures in place to move mothers who would require consultant-led care to the
appropriate site as quickly as possible – if it was a pre-planned
consultant-led birth, arrangements would be made well in advance for them to
attend their preferred site. If it was
an emergency situation, a general medical team would be on hand to stabilise
the patient whilst arrangements were put into motion with the Ambulance Service
to move her to the nearest consultant-led site ·
The number of emergency caesarean births in
North Wales per year, was approximately 1% of the total number of births ·
Re-affirmed that the proposals were a temporary
measure and were linked to the development of the Sub-Regional Neonatal
Intensive Care Centre (SuRNICC) at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd as the centre
of excellence for babies with more complex needs – this unit would be
consultant-led ·
If it transpired that the staffing problems
could not be solved and the temporary changes needed to be extended for a
longer period of time, the Board would be required to re-consult on the
proposals as they could not be extended indefinitely ·
Stated that there were deaths occasionally even
in consultant-led maternity units ·
Confirmed that there was not a shortage of
midwives in North Wales at present, and an additional 27 midwives had been
recruited recently · Assured members that the temporary changes were not a cost saving exercise. They were being proposed as a measure to address staffing level problems which could pose a risk to women and to the Board. At the conclusion of the consultation exercise, the implementation ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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At this juncture (11.15 a.m.) there was a 15 minute break Meeting reconvened at 11.30 a.m. |
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BCUHB IN CONWY AND DENBIGHSHIRE To consider a presentation from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s Area Director Central on the progress made on developing an area structure for the Health Board in the Conwy and Denbighshire areas. 11.00 am – 11:30 am Minutes: The Betsi Cadwaladr
University Health Board’s (BCUHB) Area Director for Conwy and Denbighshire,
Bethan Jones introduced the BCUHB in Conwy and Denbighshire presentation. The Area Director was welcomed to the meeting and proceeded
to give a presentation on the progress made to date with developing a
sub-regional area structure for the Health Board’s work in Conwy and
Denbighshire. The Area Director
explained how the new structure would engage and interact with partners and
stakeholders. During her presentation
the Area Director gave an overview of the Leadership Team and the Area
Structure that operated below it. She
outlined the Corporate Support Services available to them, the Area Structure’s
operating principles and their key priorities for the next three years. Responding to members questions she: ·
Confirmed that the Health Board had established
three “new area” structures for North Wales, based on the local authority areas
of: Ø
Anglesey and Gwynedd Ø
Conwy and Denbighshire, and Ø
Flintshire and Wrexham The base for Conwy and Denbighshire
was located at Llandudno Hospital ·
Agreed that effective and timely communication
was key to delivering quality services and to build up a high level of trust
and confidence amongst residents.
Shortfalls in timely and effective communication between health service
personnel required improvement as it posed a risk to the Board, caused undue
delay in patients’ treatments at times and incurred additional costs for the
health service ·
Confirmed that a great deal of work would be
undertaken in relation to the Out-of-Hours Service across North Wales. There were concerns that patients who were
unable to get appointments with their own GPs were accessing the Out-of-Hours
Service at the weekends ·
Confirmed that GPs contracts actually specified
that they were not required to work weekends at the present time ·
Informed the Committee that there was a need to
promote the availability of Minor Injuries Units (MIU) at the community
hospitals to residents, together with the services they offered in order to
relieve the pressures on the district general hospitals’ Accident and Emergency
(A&E Departments). Members suggested
that it could be advantageous if the name of the MIUs were changed to Minor
Injuries and Ailments Departments ·
Confirmed there was a need to assist people to
return to their homes much quicker following a period of hospitalisation,
particularly when only very minor adaptations were required e.g. fitting of
handrails etc. This work would be
progressed via the “What matters” project ·
Confirmed that there were examples of both good
and bad practice with respect to hospital discharge plans together with the
provision of specialist equipment ·
Confirmed that in recent years, primary care had
been organised into clusters with a view to building up resilience,
particularly in areas such as IT and support for single doctor GP practices ·
Acknowledged that low level mental health issues
had not previously been addressed by GPs, this had led to higher level
intervention required in due course. ·
Advised that, at present, mental health matters
formed part of the secondary healthcare sector.
However, the Area Director was of the view that this should eventually form
part of the “area” work, particularly given the evidence that dementia would
form a large proportion of the local health service’s work going forward ·
Another aspect which required improvement was palliative
care and the need to upskill the care sector to provide palliative care rather
than cause undue distress to the patient and their family by moving them into a
general hospital environment for their end of life care. Members agreed with the issue of palliative care and asked that the Board consider employing a community consultant and pharmacist with a view to ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING PDF 157 KB To receive minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 30 July, 2015 (copy attached). Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Partnerships Scrutiny
Committee held on Thursday 30 July, 2015, were submitted. Matters Arising Page 6, Item 6 – CCTV Savings. Councillor Arwel
Roberts confirmed that each Town Council were in support of the
initiative. Rhyl Town Council would have
finances for only 20 cameras. Cllr
Roberts confirmed Rhuddlan Town Council would not enter into an agreement until
all Rhuddlan CCTV cameras were in working order. RESOLVED that the minutes
of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 30 July 2015 be received and
approved as a correct record. |
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SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME PDF 70 KB 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. 11.30am – 11:50am Additional documents:
Minutes: The Scrutiny Co-ordinator introduced a report (previously
circulated) regarding the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee Forward Work
Programme. 8 October 2015 – the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee will be
taking place in Llangollen Town Hall.
The Scrutiny Co-ordinator confirmed she would contact Officers to remind
them the meeting would be taking place in Llangollen and not Ruthin. It was agreed to postpone inviting BCUHB officers back to
Partnerships Scrutiny until after the Special Council meeting with BCUHB which
would be taking place on 7 October 2015. RESOLVED that the
Partnerships Scrutiny Committee Forward Work Programme be approved |
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FEEDBACK FROM COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVES To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups Minutes: None. |
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The meeting concluded at 1.05 p.m. |