Agenda and draft minutes

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To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 April 2024.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair. 

To review and reconfirm the Terms of Reference for the Communities Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

The Lead Lawyer: Litigation & Regulatory presented the Committee’s Terms of Reference for the municipal year 2024/25. There was a requirement in the Council’s Constitution that an annual review of the terms of reference took place at the first meeting following the Council’s Annual General Meeting. There were no proposed changes from the previous municipal year.

RESOLVED – that the Terms of Reference for the 2024/25 municipal year as set out in Appendix A be approved.

To review and confirm the proposed Work Programme for the Health Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

The Democracy Officer (Scrutiny) presented the Health Scrutiny Committee work programme to the Committee. It was an annual report delegated by Scrutiny Management Board for each scrutiny committee to review and approve their work programme for the municipal year. A two year work programme was implemented in the preceding year to allow for in-depth work to be completed and the programme presented to Members at the time of the meeting marked the halfway point of the two year programme. Members were provided an opportunity to comment on the proposed work programme and asked if items were fixed or if there would be opportunities for items to be added onto the work programme throughout the year.

The Democracy Officer (Scrutiny) advised that items were not fixed, and new items could be added following consultation with the Chair and Senior Officers.

RESOLVED – that the Health Scrutiny work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year as outlined at Appendix A be agreed.

To receive an update on the work of the Joint Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee.

The Telford & Wrekin Co-Chair of the Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) provided the Committee with an update on the work recently completed by the JHOSC. The Committee held an extraordinary meeting in August 2024 that was attended by Senior Officers of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) following the publication of the CQC report of hospital performance in May 2024. The Co-Chair informed Members that the main focus for JHOSC was to review Urgent and Emergency Care provision across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. At the time of the meeting, the JHOSC had met with the West Midlands Ambulance Service to discuss winter preparedness, and the work planned for the forthcoming winter period. Once that piece of work had concluded, the JHOSC would report back to the Health Scrutiny Committee to provide an update of the work conducted and the outcomes achieved. The work programme for the JHOSC would also be reviewed in the near future and would look to include items such as Phlebotomy and Mental Health provision for the remaining municipal year.

Members discussed the current pressures on the ambulance service and reported that during the informal workshop there had been a total of 120 ambulances outside hospitals in the area with the longest wait time averaging 58 hours. The Co-Chair of the JHOSC agreed to come back to the Committee with a further update.

To receive an update on the work of the Health & Wellbeing Board.

The Interim Director: Health & Wellbeing provided an update to the Committee on the most recent meeting of the Health & Wellbeing Board. Members were informed that a meeting of the Board had not taken place since March 2024 due to the General Election. Members were informed that the Board would receive  quarterly updates on the delivery and oversight of the Health & Wellbeing Strategy.

To provide an update on the Telford & Wrekin Integrated Place Partnership (TWIPP).

The Interim Executive Director: Adult Social Care, Housing and Customer Services and Interim Director: Health & Wellbeing provided the Committee with an update on the Telford & Wrekin Integrated Place Partnership (TWIPP).

Members were informed that TWIPP was established in 2019 under the NHS Long Term Plan to deliver support to residents in Telford and Wrekin with a focus on place-based work to enable further integration of services. At the time of the meeting, TWIPP had recently formed a formal committee of the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) which played a key role in assuring the delivery of community-centred health and care integration at place and was authorised to oversee the delivery of key priorities on thematic partnership boards with a focus on reducing health inequalities, improving proactive preventing and delivering community-centred health and care services.

Officers explained that TWIPP had three main priorities for 2024 – 2026:-

• Supporting General Practices by working together to reduce and manage demand for GP services/appointments;
• Mental health services & support (all ages) focused on prevention, early intervention and specialist services; and
• Healthy ageing focused on preventing, reducing and delaying frailty.

These priorities had been informed by a number of sources such as the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), the NHS GP Experience Survey and the Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin GP Access Report.

Each of these priorities of TWIPP would examine how community-centred approaches would be adopted to support residents of the Borough. Members were provided with some examples of the work of the Live Well Hubs which provide direct community support and weekly exercise classes as part of the ‘Moving On’ service to support with fall prevention for elderly residents.

The projects shown utilised the data provided and the community support currently available in the form of volunteers and peer roles such as Health Champions. TWIPP also worked in partnership with the ICB, Telford & Wrekin CVS and the voluntary sector as a whole to provide targeted services and support. TWIPP had representation amongst the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise groups as part of the Chief Officers Group (COG) to provide the correct service.

Members raised a number of questions and comments:-

What does JSNA mean?

The Interim Director: Health & Wellbeing explained that it stood for the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

What was the difference between the survey on GP access by the NHS and the one recently completed by Healthwatch?

The Executive Director: Adult Social Care, Housing and Customer Services explained that the information from both surveys were similar, but the Healthwatch survey focussed on local issues and looked at the practices in the Borough in more depth.

What autonomy does TWIPP have outside of the ICB and could it take recommendations to them on services needed?

TWIPP had recently become more involved with the ICB and presented recommendations on services at a place-based level.

What were the views of residents on Primary Care and GP access?

The Interim Director: Health and Wellbeing explained that there had been reports that residents did receive good  ...  view the full minutes text for item HAC-7

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