Agenda item

Report of the Director of Public Health

The Scrutiny Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health concerning the review and retendering of the Sexual Health Services. The report was also to be considered by Cabinet at their meeting on 13^th May, 2014. Veronica Ford, Associate Director Primary Care and Prevention and Kerry Beasley, Lead Nurse, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The report indicated that from 1^st April, 2013 Local Authorities had been mandated to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services. The City Council was looking to tender for sexual health services jointly with Warwickshire County Council during 2014/15 and discussions were under way with the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Team with regard to their responsibilities for HIV treatment services and the possibility of joint commissioning. The incumbent contractor of the main contract in Coventry was Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust. It was the intention that the new contract would commence on 1^st April, 2015. The current contract value was approximately £4m for Coventry and £3m for Warwickshire.

The report included a summary of the review of sexual health services which has been undertaken, including a consideration of the health needs in Coventry relating to sexual health; a summary of the engagement and consultation work carried out; and the planned process for retendering jointly with Warwickshire County Council.

Members of the Board questioned the officer and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  An assurance that the commissioning documentation would seek to perpetuate current good practice within the service

·  The experience of working with the different communities within the city

·  Clarification about the requirements for the work with HIV patients

·  The links that the service has other services ie mental health, drug and alcohol services

·  How the service reaches older people at risk

·  The different requirements from the service for Coventry compared to Warwickshire and the potential for services to operate to different priorities and standards in their areas

·  Potential health checks and support for asylum seekers

·  Clarification that the consultation reached all the different groups in the city

·  The potential local and national providers who might be interested in the new contract and whether there would be just one or several smaller contracts

·  The work to be undertaken with the different faith groups including consulting with the mosques and temples

·  In cases of positive testing of sexual diseases, the work carried out to trace partners

·  The availability of nhs data for the service

·  The impact of the work of the school nursing service and whether the school academies were accessing this service

·  How the service identified and made referrals for cases of female genital mutilation. 

RESOLVED that:

(1) Having considered the report, the following recommendations be referred to Cabinet and the Arden Joint Sexual Health Project Board:

(a)  The Sexual Health Services be recommended to work with the faith communities including the free schools, taking up the offer of assistance from Councillor Sehmi

(b)  A continuous assurance be provided that lesbians, gays and bisexuals will continue to be provided with the appropriate sensitive support

(c)  The service to continue to work with the different community groups including supporting black Africans and ensuring that individuals whose immigration status is not clear are not discouraged from accessing services

(d)  The service to continue to develop links with the mental health, drug and alcohol services. 

(2) A progress report be submitted to a future meeting of the Board once the new contract for sexual health services has been awarded.