Agenda and draft minutes

Councillors Hugh Irving and Andrew Thomas

Councillor Bobby Feeley – Lead Cabinet Member for Well-being and Independence

Nicola Stubbins – Corporate Director Communities

Councillor Gareth Davies declared a personal interest in agenda items 5 and 6 because he was an employee of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

No urgent matters had been raised.

To receive the minutes of Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 14 February 2019 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 14 February 2019 were submitted.

Matters Arising – Page 9, Item 5 Environmental Enforcement Provision – The Chair pointed out that a link to the report presented to Cabinet in September 2018 on ‘Options for Delivering the Enforcement of Environmental Crime’ had been included in the Committee’s Information Brief (previously circulated to members).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 14 February 2019 be received and confirmed as a correct record.

To receive a presentation from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board representatives regarding future plans for the provision of services at Denbigh Infirmary.

10.10 a.m. – 10.45 a.m.

The Chair welcomed Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s (BCUHB) Director of Clinical Services – Therapies and Assistant Director of Community Services to the meeting to discuss the future provision of services at Denbigh Infirmary.  Apologies had been received from the Area Director: Centre BCUHB (Bethan Jones).

Introducing the presentation the Health Board’s Assistant Director of Community Services provided the Committee with a brief overview of the background to the closure of the ward at Denbigh Infirmary, including information on the detailed fire surveys and inspections undertaken and their findings which had resulted in work being commissioned to establish the costs and timescales for making the ward fit for purpose again.  This work had identified eight potential options for future re-provision of services at the Infirmary.  These were the –

·         refurbishment of the existing first and ground floor areas to re-provide 14 beds at an estimated cost of £10m to £11m, within an anticipated timescale of 3 years

·         demolition and rebuilding of the ground and first floor area to re-provide 16 beds at an estimated cost of £11m to £12m, within an anticipated timescale of 3 years

·         relocation of the Physiotherapy Department to another part of the hospital to enable the creation of a 4 bed bay at an estimated cost of between £1.2m to £1.4m, within an anticipated timescale of 2 years

·         construction of a new 5 bed ward between the current MacMillan Suite and the Clinic building at an estimated cost of between £1.2m and £1.3m, within an anticipated timescale of 2 years

·         construction of a new 6 bedroom ward at an estimated cost of between £4.5m and £5m, within an anticipated timescale of 3 years

·         demolition of the kitchen area and ward area above and the rebuilding of a 6 bed ward at an estimated cost of between £3.5m and £4m, within an anticipated timescale of 3 years

·         conversion of the conservatory adjacent to the MacMillan ward into a single bedroom unit without a bathroom at an estimated cost of £100k, within an anticipated 12 month timescale

·         relocation of the maternity room to a ground floor location at an estimated cost of between £350k and £400k within an anticipated 12 month timescale.

Further work was currently being undertaken in relation to the identified options.

If following detailed analysis a decision was taken to proceed to re-provide the whole ward this would necessitate the closure of the entire hospital site while the work was being undertaken.  To ensure that there was sufficient community beds available within the area whilst the re-provision work was underway the work could not be commenced until such time as the new North Denbighshire Hospital was open.  Nevertheless, some work on the site could be undertaken in the meantime.  Local county councillors and the Infirmary’s League of Friends were keen that the ward was not left empty in the meantime as they felt that it sent out the wrong message about the site’s future, therefore the Health Board and the County Council had recently agreed that members of the joint health and social care Community Resources Team (CRT) for the Denbigh area should be based at the former Lleweni Ward at the Infirmary until any refurbishment and re-provision work was ready to be commenced.  The CRT would relocate elsewhere when the refurbishment work was due to begin.

Members were advised by the Assistant Director of Community Services that Health Board officials had recently met with members of the Denbigh Member Area Group (MAG) to discuss the future of the Infirmary.  At that meeting MAG members had asked the Health Board to consider wider options for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To receive a presentation from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board representatives regarding progress with capital projects in Denbighshire relating to North Denbighshire Community Hospital Project, Corwen Health Centre, Ruthin Clinic and the development of the Community Resources Teams.

10.45 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board officials had been invited to the meeting to update the Committee regarding progress with capital projects in Denbighshire.

The Health Board’s Director Clinical Services – Therapies gave the Committee a presentation on the progress made with respect of the work to develop a Health and Well-being Campus for the north Denbighshire area on and around the site of the former Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl.  He advised that the WG had approved the Health Board’s Outline Business Case (OBC) for the campus in January 2019 and consequently the Board was now in the final stages of developing the Full Business Case (FBC) for the project.  This entailed checking its robustness and the building and service models’ design and tendering arrangements, with a view to submitting the FBC to WG by March 2020.  During the presentation he described the proposed service model and its benefits for the area and its residents which would include –

·         integrated working between primary and community care to support urgent/same day care, which would reduce the impact on the Emergency Department (ED) at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd;

·         providing capacity for cluster practices to manage demand in primary care;

·         increasing the provision of services open after 5pm in the area;

·         enhancing collaboration between health partners, the local authority, third sector and the community by optimising the use of resources through the integration and co-location of multi-agency or multi professional teams and improving the recruitment and retention of staff;

·         a 21^st Century health and well-being campus that provided a range of care pathways through from self-management to in-patient care beds;

·         education, information and preventative services;

·         a range of ambulatory outpatient services with an emphasis on care closer to the home that should deliver a better experience for the patient and reduce the number of conveyances to the district general hospital;

·         an integrated approach to meeting the physical and mental health needs of older people with a view to reducing the impact on wards at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and maximising recovery and reablement to aid independence and the reduce the need for institutional type care; and

·         the retention and refurbishment of the original Royal Alexandra Hospital building.  Whilst this had increased the cost of the project and had complexities attached to it, its inclusion in the project plans was in itself an acknowledgement of the building’s historic and cultural importance to the town.  Of the £40m awarded by WG for the development of the entire campus, approximately £7m to £8m would be invested in the original building to completely overhaul its electrical and heating systems, restore its exterior and to undertake some light internal refurbishment to accommodate support staff and multi-agency teams, such as the Single Point of Access (SPoA) Service and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Service.  The building’s listed status restricted the options for any major refurbishment work to be undertaken to enable modern healthcare services to be delivered from the building.

The Committee was advised that the focus of the new campus would be to provide –

·         a same day care centre;

·         outpatient clinics;

·         inpatient beds;

·         intravenous therapy suite (IV suite);

·         diagnostics;

·         therapy services;

·         Community Dental Services;

·         Sexual Health Services;

·         Older Persons Mental Health Outpatient Service; and

·         a community hub to include a café, third sector provision and meeting rooms to support the local community

It was proposed that the Project Board would re-form in the near future to progress and refine the final business case for submission to WG by March 2020, with a view to it being approved during June 2020 to enable the new building to  ...  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.

11.45 a.m. – 12 noon

The Scrutiny Coordinator submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking members’ review of the Committee’s work programme and provided an update on relevant issues.

During the ensuing discussion –

·         it was noted that the Committee’s next scheduled meeting on 23 May coincided with the European Parliamentary Elections and would need to be rescheduled in the event that they were held in the UK

·         items on the work programme for the May meeting were reaffirmed and it was agreed to invite the relevant Lead Cabinet Members to attend; it was also confirmed that a representative from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board would attend for the item on Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

·         the Scrutiny Coordinator asked that completed member proposal forms on potential scrutiny topics be submitted approximately one week before the next meeting of the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Group scheduled for 25 April – it was suggested that the Police be invited to a future scrutiny meeting to discuss policing in the county and Councillor Gareth Davies agreed to submit a member proposal form in that regard

·         it was confirmed that the update on Denbigh Infirmary and other Health Board Capital Projects requested by the Committee under the previous agenda items would be added to the work programme for December.

RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the forward work programme as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

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

12 noon

Councillor Rhys Thomas reported upon the Education and Children’s Services Service Challenge held the previous day which had been a good meeting with lots of searching questions.  Discussion focused on the budget, looked after children and the Council’s parenting responsibilities, safeguarding issues and school places.  Further detailed notes of the meeting would be circulated to members in the usual manner in due course.  In response to a question from Councillor Joan Butterfield, Councillor Thomas confirmed the 2% savings required from schools had been discussed at the lines of inquiry meeting with the challenge meeting focusing largely on the service responsibilities.  The Chief Executive added that assurances had been provided regarding the robust financial management of schools’ budgets with financial recovery plans in place for those schools in deficit.

RESOLVED that the verbal report be received and noted.

The meeting concluded at 12.12 p.m.