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19/13 | Members agreed their approach to the meeting. |
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20/13 | The evacuation procedure was noted. |
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21/13 | Cllr Mohammed Javed declared a disclosable pecuniary interest as he was employed by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust. Cllr Javed had been granted a dispensation in this regard.
Cllr Ray McCall declared a personal interest as he was an Associate Hospital Manager and Governor for Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust.
Deborah Miller, Parent Governor Representative, declared a disclosable pecuniary interest as she was employed by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust. Deborah Miller had been granted a dispensation in this regard. |
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22/13 | The minutes of the meeting held on 7th May 2013 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
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23/13 | Consideration was given to the draft minutes of the meeting held on 10th June 2013. |
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24/13 | Members were requested to consider the information provided by the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) in response to the issues raised at the meeting of 7th May, when considering the Trust’s Quality Account.
At the meeting of 7th May Members expressed concerns in relation to a number of issues contained in the report relating to performance during 2012-13. This included: progress in relation to improving Accident and Emergency handover times, and overall response times; explanation of the patient safety incidents that were recorded; explanation of the rise in complaints; progress in relation to improving rural performance; progress on improving ‘hear and treat’ and ‘see and treat’ figures; and response to staff survey.
Members noted that the issues raised had direct relevance to the Committee’s next review of access to GP, urgent and emergency care. This therefore represented an early opportunity to receive from NEAS their views on the demand on the local urgent and emergency care system.
Mark Cotton and Paul Liversidge were in attendance to address Members questions.
Members were informed that an action plan had been put into place to address handover delays, response times, winter pressures etc. The NEAS could provide an update in the autumn on how successful the actions had been.
Discussion was held on staff satisfaction and it was felt that many of the Advanced Technicians were unhappy with their own personal opportunities for progression as the role would be removed as a result of the proposals from the A and E review and the proposed crew mixes. Therefore, further training had been put in place to enable approximately 12 Technicians per year to progress to a Paramedic, once they had completed their training they would need to wait for positions to become available. There had also been a management restructure to provide staff with more mentoring.
There had been concerns over staff safety due to an increase in assaults on staff and to address some of these concerns the NEAS had now installed CCTV into their ambulances.
Members discussed the increase in patient safety incidents and it was reported that an Officer had now been put in place to look at an issues around patient safety. It was reported that the Trust has a ‘no blame’ culture that encouraged staff to report patient safety incidents so that each one could be investigated and lessons be learnt. It was reported that the total number of incidents was the lowest in the country.
The number of complaints had increased, and the top three areas included staff attitude, responses to urgent calls, and responses to 999 calls. The greatest rise in these emanated from the call centre which it was reported reflected the number of new staff that had been recruited.
Contact Centre staff taking the emergency calls were provided with coaching and mentoring. Measures were also in place to ensure that each call was handled to determine the level of emergency as quickly as possible.
Discussion was held on the impact of 111 calls. It was reported that the level of 999 calls had decreased with many using 111 depending on the emergency.
Members requested further information on how many paramedics were on duty at one time in the Borough. This information would be sent out to Members. |
ASH
25/13 | Members were provided with the results of the consultation that had gathered views on the proposals for changes to Adult Mental Health Services. These were agreed in principle at the Cabinet meeting of 7th February 2013 in order for them to go forward to consultation with service users, carers, and the wider community.
The consultation took place for 12 weeks between 18th March and 7th June 2013. A number of techniques were used in order to gather feedback from a range of interested parties including:- service users/clients, families and carers including young carers, service providers including SBC staff, interest groups, and the wider public.
A consultation document including a survey which was mailed to all service users and carers and made available to stakeholders. 105 responses were received:
- All service users and carers were informed of the opportunity to discuss the review and consultation with their care managers in a 1:1 setting;
- A dedicated webpage was created on the SBC website, including a link to the survey and copy of the consultation document;
- Awareness raising via Stockton News and press releases;
- Six public, facilitated consultation events were held in Stockton, Thornaby, Billingham and Yarm;
- Briefings for SBC staff, Members, trades union, and local MPs;
- A briefing was circulated to the following organisations with an offer of attendance where appropriate: Renaissance Board and Area Partnerships, Parish and Town Councils, Health and Wellbeing Board and Partnership, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust’s Stockton Constituency Governors, Catalyst, BME and Faith Networks, and Disability Advisory Group;
- The following groups/sessions were attended: Central Area Partnership, Northern Area Partnership, Over 50s Assembly, Carers Group at Ideal House, a session with carers organised by George Hardwick Foundation, the Mental Health Patient and Public Involvement Group, the independent voluntary group SURGE, and young carers support group Eastern Ravens.
Stockton LINk were involved in discussions on the planning of the consultation prior to the transition to Healthwatch. In advance of the transition in April 2013, Healthwatch Stockton were made aware of the consultation and chose to carry out a parallel consultation exercise. A report was subsequently developed in partnership
with MIND, who also consulted with 43 users and carers including representatives from Norton Road, Ware Street, New Horizons, and
SURGE.
Members noted the results and were content for the proposals to be taken forward, and used to develop draft recommendations and the final report. |
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26/13 | Members were provided with an update on the reconfiguration of critical care and emergency medicine at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. Members were informed that a Joint Committee had been established to consider a response to the consultation. The first meeting would be held on Thursday 11th July, 2013. |
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27/13 | Members were provided with an update on the new health scrutiny regulations following the introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and subsequent amendments to the regulations. |
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28/13 | The arrangements for quality assurance, and specifically the role of the Adult Services and Health (ASH) Select Committee, had been reviewed in light of public concern, national guidance and inquiries, and the impact of the health reforms. Members were provided with a summary of work to date and outline areas for improvement. It also included the response of the health scrutiny function to the relevant recommendations of the Francis Inquiry into the failure of care at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
Members discussed the impact of the range of new providers providing health services and the oversight of them. It was requested that further information be presented in future on the impact of Any Qualified Provider locally. |
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29/13 | The next meeting will be held on 22nd July, 2013. |
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30/13 | Members were provided with a copy of the Care Quality Commission Bulletin for June 2013. |
