Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2015 were signed as a true record.  There were no matters arising.

Briefing note from David Williams, NHS England, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Board received a briefing note and presentation by David Williams, Locality Director and Margaret Johnson, Contracts Manager, from NHS England (West Midlands).

The presentation summarised the current service provision for Out of Hours dental services provided at the Dental Practice on Coundon Road and the types of services available, focussing on the key points of difference between the service provided by the Out of Hours service and A&E. 

Arising from discussion, the Board asked for further information on the numbers of patients accessing the out of hours dental services and those attending A&E for emergency dental treatment.

The Board also questioned attendees on a number of matters including promoting dental hygiene, access to Council Dental Practice and how the out of hours services was publicised.

In respect of the latter, members were informed that answerphone messages in dental practices should direct patients to calling 111 to access the service and discussion ensued as to what checks were made to ensure this was happening. The Board noted that the NHS had a number of different computer systems this added to the complexities of providing a fully integrated service; however they were looking at ways to ensure it was as effective as it could be.  In noting, the Board suggested that further work be done to improve signposting for Out of Hours services.

David Williams and Margaret Johnson were thanked for their attendance and contribution.

RESOLVED that the Board:

(a)  Note the document and presentation.

(b)  Request further information on the number of patients (i) accessing out of hours dental services and (ii) attending A&E for emergency dental treatment.

(c)  Recommend that NHS England look at ways to improve signposting for out of hours dental services.

Presentation

Briefing note (attached)

The Board received an update on Winter Pressures which detailed challenges faced by the system, actions taken and proposals in respect of the current winter pressures plan.

The Board noted significant challenges within the Coventry system.  A System Resilience Group brought together senior executives from the main health and social care partners and this Group was the local key forum where challenges were now monitored and actions put in place.

A two-pronged approach was planned, short term, an action plan was put in place to drive immediate improvements and a longer term system-wide transformation programme initiated to consider the key activities that needed to be delivered over the next 2 to 3 years.

One of the key pieces of work implemented to try and address 4 hour waiting targets of delayed transfers of care was a “Perfect Week” activity.  This aimed to focus on engaging all departments and partner agencies to identify small improvements to make a difference, or new activities that made a difference to the patients’ journey through the hospital.  It was reported that the Coventry Perfect Week was considered successful with a significant improvements in 4 hour emergency department waits and improvements on delayed transfers of care, though the latter still fell short of national targets.

Having questioned attendees on aspects of the presentation and the documents tabled, the Board requested that they receive a further report on targets once data had been gathered in respect of winter pressure period.

RESOLVED that the Board note the update provided and request that a further report be circulated in due course to analyse data following the Winter pressure period.

Report of the Executive Director of People

The Board considered a report of the Executive Director of People which set out the Adult Social Care Annual Report 2014/15 (Local Account) describes the performance of Adult Social Care and the progress made against the priorities for the year.

Although there was not a statutory requirement to produce an annual report, it was considered good practice as it provided a public record of the performance of Adult Social Care to local citizens. The report also provides an opportunity to be open and transparent about the successes and challenges of the year and to show how outcomes are improving for those supported through Adult Social Care.  The production of an annual report is part of the Local Government Associations (LGA) approach to Sector Led Improvement, launched in 2011.  This approach was launched following the removal of national targets and assessments with the aim of driving improvement through self-regulation, improvement and innovation.

In the completion of the 2014/15 report, engagement activity has been undertaken with Healthwatch Coventry, the independent champion for health and social care in Coventry alongside Partnership Boards across Adult Social Care in order to obtain feedback about our progress on last year’s priorities and to enable discussion on key areas of activity for the coming year.

Feedback on readability and content was also noted and as a result of this the 2014/15 Annual Report is shorter than previous years.

The Board commended the report and suggested that, in order to make comparisons with data over time, future reports use the same data measures.  Officers responded that as national measures change, this would present a challenge, however they would seek to find some trend lines for ease of comparison.    

Resolved that the Board note the report and recommend to the Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services that, for future Annual Reports, the same date measures are used year on year to enable comparisons of performance through trend data.

Outstanding issues have been picked up in the Work Programme

The Scrutiny Board noted that all outstanding issues had been included in the Work Programme for 2015-16.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Board noted the work programme including the following updates:

·  Deprivation of liberty implications to be considered at the meeting on 3 November 2015.

·  Joint meeting with the Education and Children’s Service Scrutiny Board (2) to consider CAMHS on 25 November 2015.

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved

a)  Quality Accounts

The Board would be working with Healthwatch and Warwickshire County Council again this year to look at Quality Accounts.

It was intended that two working groups be established to focus on two of the Trusts – UHCW and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust.  Two volunteers from the Board would be sought to sit on each working group.

b)  Update on CCG Meeting

The Board were briefed on a recent meeting the Chair had had with Clinical Commissioning Groups on the stroke service.