Agenda and minutes

To receive Declarations of Interest (if any)

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Improvement and Scrutiny Committee - Health held on 25 September 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2023 were confirmed as a correct record subject to an amendment to minute number 33/23 that should read:

“The Committee agreed that it would consider undertaking a review of school meals and children’s health and in order to commence the process Cllr Allen would submit a review proposal form to enable the Scrutiny Officer to draft a scoping report for the next meeting.”

30 minutes maximum for this item.  Questions may be submitted to be answered by the Scrutiny Committee or Council officers who are attending the meeting as witnesses, on any item that is within the scope of the Committee. Please see the procedure (below) for the submission of questions.

There were no public questions.

Monica McAlindon, Head of Cancer Commissioning at Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, providing an update on the status of the colposcopy provision for people living in the High Peak area.  The current position continued to be put on pause and was reflective of the service on a regional and national basis.

Ms McAlindon was keen to emphasise that there had been no effect on screening and that the access to the colposcopy service was as local as possible.  The ICB was currently looking at the long- and medium-term programme and was working collaboratively with NHS England on how to reduce travel.  It was recognised that the Committee preferred a more positive account but it was conscious of the pressures being experienced by the service.

Committee members were re-assured that the care to patients remained the same.  There was no patient feedback available on visits to Chesterfield Royal Hospital but, all patients had received the appropriate treatment, all appointments had been attended and no complaints had been received. 

RESOLVED to note the change to the clinical pathway with patients now directed to the Chesterfield Royal Hospital for a colposcopy.

Clive Newman, Director of Patient Care, at Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board introduced the report, providing an update on General Practice provision across Derbyshire.  The report focussed on the System-level Primary Care Access Improvement Plan and an update on the recovery of appointments in General Practice at a national and local level. 

Demand on services had increased and practices have had to make significant changes in how services were delivered.  There were now more appointments but the number of doctors had not increased comparably, resulting in a decrease in patient satisfaction.

The Plan’s central ambitions were to tackle the 8:00 am rush and for patients to know on the day how their request would be managed, thereby empowering patients and building capacity.  The aim of the plan was also to mitigate the crisis facing primary care.  The presentation went on to outline the local long-term vision for access and how the plan would be delivered alongside the national plan through invested funding and patient involvement.

The Committee thanked Mr Newman for his presentation and proceeded to pose a number of questions.  A number of different factors needed to be considered for each appointment and how they would be presented, such as triaging cases and getting to know individual patients. 

GPs were continually assessed through a number of methods including the governance programme, accreditation, peer review, CPC and regular continued professional development.  It was recognised that the community consultation scheme around pharmaceutical practices needed an improved IT system.

Practices receive funding from the NHS, out of which all staff and practice costs are met.  It was agreed that further information on the quality framework and performance against national targets would be circulated to committee members.

RESOLVED the report was for information and consideration only.

Ellie Houston, Director of Public Health and Hayley Gleeson, Public Health Lead – Policy introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, asking Committee to note the development to date of the draft Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Derbyshire (JLHWBS) and its areas of focus.

The JLHWBS set out agreed priorities and joint action for health service partners and local authorities across the county to address the health and wellbeing needs of the Derbyshire population – these were identified by a range of data sources and evidence.  Positive feedback was received from the Health and Wellbeing Board in October 2023 with engagement and involvement of board members and partners to co-produce and refine the strategy with continued commitment to shared delivery and implementation of the Strategy.

The effect of COVID had impacted on the ability to undertake useful evaluation of the impact of the last strategy. More detailed information around loneliness and isolation would be available to Committee members when the Strategy was completed. The Committee considered that real commitment was also needed for intervention and prevention of young people’s mental health.

RESOLVED to:

1)    Note the development to date of the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Derbyshire; and

2)    Note the draft areas of focus for the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Derbyshire.

Jackie Wardle, Improvement and Scrutiny Officer introduced the scoping report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, informing the Committee of a proposed review of the importance of school meals for children’s health, seeking agreement for a review to be undertaken and to establish a review working group to look at the national healthy eating food strategy and take-up of free meals.

Committee received the report however, it was brought to members’ attention that work had already been done by the Department of Education and the Food Standards Agency earlier in the year, resulting in the Standards for School Food in England being updated, in February 2023.  These standards were used by the County Council’s menu development officer.

In light of this information, concerns were expressed around duplication of work and the amount of time that would be spent on a working group doing a review.  A vote was taken and it was felt that the recommendations did not provide realistic outcomes and that this work had already been completed very recently. 

RESOLVED not to accept the recommendations.

Jackie Wardle, Improvement and Scrutiny Officer advised the Committee of the expected items to be discussed at future meetings: 

January 2024

·        Dean Wallace, Director of Operations, Derbyshire Community Health.  Members were invited to submit issues for Mr Wallace to respond to;

·        Maternity Services update;

·        Work Programme.

March 2024

·        Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – Living Well Derbyshire

Members of the committee expressed real concern around the falling number of NHS dental practitioners across the county and were keen to welcome the Service to a future meeting to discuss the provision currently being offered.

RESOLVED to:

1)   Accept the work programme for 11 December 2023;

2)    Invite NHS Dentistry Service to a future meeting.