Agenda and minutes

None.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 October 2024.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair. 

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

The Telford & Wrekin Co-Chair of the Joint Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) provided Members with an update on the work recently completed by the JHOSC. The Committee were due to meet publicly on Monday 16 December with a main focus still remaining on the CQC report published in May 2024 on hospital performance, the Channel 4 Dispatches programme and winter planning. The Co-Chair advised that a new management structure had been put in place at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) and that the Committee had challenged the timely issuance of reports.

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

The Interim Director: Health & Wellbeing provided Members with an update on the recent work of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The Board held its first meeting of the municipal year on 28 November 2024 following a change in meeting timetables as a result of the General Election earlier that year. The Board were provided an update on the progress of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy over the past 12 months and also received the Healthwatch GP Access Survey which included an update of the work undertaken by Healthwatch in relation to primary care networks.

Members asked a number of questions following the update:-

Recent reports indicate growing difficulties related to lifestyle, suggesting an increase in bowel cancer among young people due to factors like lack of exercise. Is there anything the Health and Wellbeing Board can do locally to try and change this situation?

The Interim Director: Health & Wellbeing advised that primary prevention was a crucial for local authorities and the Council were due to extend their stop smoking services from April 2024 and implement a new healthy weight strategy.

There are significant pressures on the NHS, particularly around admission into hospital and accessing primary care. How much pressure is this putting on council services?

The Interim Director: Health & Wellbeing confirmed that the Council had established prevention pathways and that the NHS has several prevention programmes, including those focused on tobacco. Specific programmes were in place to support pregnant women and inpatients who smoke. Additionally, the Council also provides a community stop smoking service.

To provide an update on hospital discharge rates and intermediate care provision.

The Chief Delivery Officer for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Service Delivery Manager for Hospital & Discharge and Better Care Fund, Telford & Wrekin Council presented Members with an update on hospital discharge rates and intermediate care provision.

Members heard that the ICB had implemented a system-wide approach aimed at enhancing the quality and efficiency of urgent and emergency care services. The System UEC Improvement Programme 2024/25  aimed to integrate services across the healthcare system to improve patient outcomes.

The Programme consisted of 5 distinct workstreams, each focused on various aspects of urgent and emergency care improvement:-

• Alternatives to Emergency Department (ED) – providing safe timely coordination of alternative pathways to emergency department visits with support from the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (ECIST).

• Frailty – providing a system-wide integrated pathway to manage frail patients including early identification and intervention to prevent deterioration and admission avoidance supported by the Getting it Right First Time programme (GIRFT).

• 4hr Performance – aimed to improve the efficiency of emergency departments to meet the 4 hour target for patient treatment and discharge with support from Tier 1 resources.

• Acute Medicine & Integrated Pathway Support (IPS) – providing initiatives to improve ward processes, referral response and speciality engagement to ensure effective treatment for patients with acute medical conditions.

• Discharge – supported by Newton Europe to streamline discharge processes, ensuring that patients are discharged in a timely and safe manner. This involved identifying and eliminating bottlenecks in the discharge pathway, commencing discharge planning as soon as the patient arrives rather than waiting until they are medically fit and the development of the Care Transfer Hub.

Each workstream was supported by a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) to ensure collaboration across different healthcare providers and an overall unified approach to patient care. Each workstream also spanned the entire patient care pathway, from initial contact to discharge to ensure comprehensive care delivery.

It was noted that the programme was also closely related to other strategic plans delivered by the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) including Emergency Care Transformation, Medicine Transformation and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Dispatches Action Plan.

Members heard that one key function that had made a significant difference to discharge rates was the introduction and development of a transfer hub. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin were one of three areas to receive additional funding from the Better Care Fund (BCF) to deliver a new discharge model following national pressures for healthcare providers to develop a more integrated function and create additional discharge teams.

In October 2024, the Care Transfer Hub was launched following extensive engagement with ward staff and medical professionals including therapists and pharmacists. The aim of the Hub was to provide a dedicated service to facilitate the safe and timely discharge of patients from hospitals to their homes or community care settings and played a crucial role in coordinating care and support to aid in recovery and admission avoidance. The Hub had brought together a multidisciplinary team of professionals from the NHS,  ...  view the full minutes text for item HAC-13

To review the updated Work Programme for the Health Scrutiny Committee.

The Senior Democracy Officer (Scrutiny) presented the updated work programme to the Committee. The next formal meeting was scheduled to take place in March and would include an update on the actions following the recent CQC assessment of Adult Social Care and results of the Healthwatch GP Access survey. It was noted that Mental Health was also a topic of interest for the Committee and work on this item was due to commence in the new year in the form of a workshop.

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