Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Luttrell Room - County Hall, Taunton TA1 4DY. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services Email: democraticservicesteam@somerset.gov.uk 

Media

Items
No. Item

10.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Christine Lawrence, Tony Robbins, Sue Osborne, Andrew Govier and Mike Stanton.

11.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 149 KB

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Minutes:

Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee - Adults and Health held on 31 May 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

12.

Declarations of Interest

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Minutes:

There were no new Declarations of Interest.

13.

Public Question Time

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

14.

Mental Health Workshop - Update pdf icon PDF 3 MB

To receive a brief verbal update from the Chair.

Decision:

To note the information from the Mental Health Workshop and the verbal update from the Chair. It was proposed that Services across Somerset including transportation, staffing and use of beds especially in Yeovil which has replaced St Andrews closure.

Minutes:

The chair of the committee gave a verbal update on the workshop which had taken place on 21 July 2023. The workshop had been attended by 9 speakers and had very informative, although it was considered that it had been at a high level.

It was requested that a task and finish group be set up with specific areas to be agreed as it was such a large area of work, it was also requested that this subject be placed on the work programme for this committee so that further scrutiny can take place on a regular basis.

Councillor Pearlstone requested that consideration of the effect of the closure of St Andrews and the use of the bed spaces at Yeovil affecting transportation of clients, staffing and use of these facilities, Councillor Bruce seconded the proposal for this to be placed on the work programme. It as also requested that a list of the names of those officers at the workshop for reference.

 

Resolved:

To note the information from the Mental Health Workshop and the verbal update from the Chair. It was proposed that the committee receive information on the effects on services across Somerset including transportation, staffing and use of beds especially in Yeovil which has replaced St Andrews closure.

15.

Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 76 KB

The Committee will discuss the forward Work Programme and make suggestions for additions.

Decision:

Members discussed the Forward work Programme and agreed the following areas of work to be included: Ambulance Service Performance and Stand bys, Suicide Prevention needs to return onto the plan.

Minutes:

Members discussed the Forward work Programme and agreed the following areas of work to be included: Ambulance Service Performance and Stand bys, also that Suicide Prevention needed to return onto the plan. It was also noted that the Crime and Disorder report would come to this committee but the meeting would be open to any Councillor or public.

16.

Primary Care Strategy pdf icon PDF 77 KB

To discuss and consider the report.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The committee noted the Primary Care Strategy and scrutinised delivery of the strategy to ensure that the changes proposed are delivered in a timely fashion and in a way that maximises the benefit to the people of Somerset. A number of areas to scrutinise were suggested and it was agreed that these would be agreed via the Chair and officers and added to the work programme.

Minutes:

Michael Bainbridge and Bernie Mardon from the NHS attended the meeting and gave a presentation on the Primary Care Strategy being put together. The committee were informed that although there were 17 problems to address, the one central problem was capacity to demand mismatch. The intension was to provide a broad strategic framework and to build trusting relationships for sustainable improvement but with a set of detailed delivery plans.

The vision for GP services needs to be clarified, however the core value is continuity of care. It was noted that there was a wide programme of actions which included attraction and retaining GPs, including trainees, increasing nurse numbers and the number of wider primary care teams including moving from reception to care navigation.

Digital Innovation – co-ordination of services with other providers, patients and system. There will also be investment in services and providers therefore a new funding framework for practices will be a priority action.

The committee also noted that the Pharmacy, Optometry and Dental Services were taken on as from 1 April 2023 and have brought their own issues.

 

During discussion, Councillors made the following comments:

·       Need to integrate services and access to medical facilities i.e. bus services and digital access as not everyone able to connect

·       Need to be proactive rather reactive to issues so planning and managing of expectations

·       Local Plan will highlight new developments and should therefore be able to predict pressure/demand on services, can also use S106/CIL funding but have a statutory duty for access to services

·       Aware of major issues with NHS dentistry services in the County, especially in certain areas like Chard

·       GP business models – need to include operation of models to be compared with others, lack of same day appointments, activities and clinics being stripped away, need to measure continuity of services.

 

The chair summarised the points of consideration for the committee`s work programme as follows:

Wider implementation of access

Detail on workforce with facts and figures

Dentistry – on work programme for October/November

Business models

GP appointment systems

Activities being stripped away and reasons why

New funding programme

Pharmaceutical provision

Scrutiny process

 

It was suggested that Michael Bainbridge provide information for distribution to committee and that the Chair and officers work through the issues to add to the work programme. It was also requested that the Primary Care Strategy be provided to the committee for information.

 

Resolved:

The committee noted the Primary Care Strategy and scrutinised delivery of the strategy to ensure that the changes proposed are delivered in a timely fashion and in a way that maximises the benefit to the people of Somerset. A number of areas to scrutinise were suggested and it was agreed that these would be agreed via the Chair and officers and added to the work programme.

17.

Adult Social Care - Budget Report pdf icon PDF 131 KB

To discuss and consider the report.

Additional documents:

Decision:

To note the Adult Services outturn position for 2022/23.

Minutes:

The committee received a presentation from the finance team who confirmed that the Outturn for 2022/2023 that the budget of £160.1m showed an overspend of £15.4m.

Pressures and challenges for 2023/24 included:

Newton project – projected to achieve £0.2m during 2023/24 instead of £5m as per the MTFP

Learning Disabilities – pressures within Supported Living and Day Care

Placements – increases in fees, with increased “Capital Drop” contacts and increased number of new placement requests.

 

A number of mitigations/actins undertaken in 2023/24 included the review of fees for next financial year, reduce the overreliance of bed placements, voids, review high cost or complex placements along with other funding.

 

In response to a question from Cllr Pearlstone, it was confirmed that the Discovery contract had reduced costs and changed their delivery model with the contract running the best ever.

 

Resolved:

To note the Adult Services outturn position for 2022/23.

18.

Adult Social Care Assurance Report pdf icon PDF 177 KB

To discuss and consider the report.

Additional documents:

Decision:

The committee noted the key updates highlighted within the report in relation to Adult Social Care (ASC) especially in regard to the new Care Quality Commission assessment of adult social care at a local authority level.

Minutes:

The committee were given a short presentation by Niki Shaw about the Adult Social Care Strategy 2023-2026 giving the priorities and commitments which was underpinned by a delivery plan.

Members of the committee congratulated Niki on the report and the work being undertaken.

 

Resolved:

The committee noted the key updates highlighted within the report in relation to Adult Social Care (ASC) especially in regard to the new Care Quality Commission assessment of adult social care at a local authority level.

19.

Healthy Weston

The Chair will update the Committee.

Decision:

To note the update received from the Chair in relation to Healthy Weston. The committee noted that a report will come forward in February 2024 with details of the business case.

Minutes:

The Chair updated the committee as she had met with the Chief Executive of Weston Hospital and discussed the changes to their strategy and partnership with Bristol, the reports had been sent as supplementary items to the agenda with the full details.

It was noted that in February 2024, a report will come to this committee on the business case for care as 20% of the population in Somerset use the hospital at Weston.

 

Resolved:

To note the update received from the Chair in relation to Healthy Weston. The committee noted that a report will come forward in February 2024 with details of the business case.