Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 6.

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Apology for absence was received from Councillor Lynda Hedges and Diana Hall Hall (Chair of the BANES LINk).

Members who have an interest to declare are asked to:

a)  State the Item Number in which they have the interest

b)  The nature of the interest

c)  Whether the interest is personal, or personal and prejudicial

Any Member who is unsure about the above should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in order to expedite matters at the meeting itself.

There were none.

There was none.

The Chairman used this opportunity to apologise to the Panel on very light agenda for this meeting. He expressed his concerns that 3 agenda items had been pulled out at the last moment from the agenda - Practice Development in Mental Health Inpatient Care from the AWP, Transforming Community Services from the NHS BANES and the impact assessment on the general changes in health (scheduled for a special meeting on 5^th October). The Chairman also said that he could not understand why Transforming Community Services from the NHS BANES was on the agenda for the Partnership Board for Health and Wellbeing meeting on 15^th September and not for this Panel meeting.

Councillor Brinkhurst shared Chairman’s concerns and said that the role of this Panel was to oversee all services within their remit. As a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat group on this Panel she expressed the disappointment of the group for not having this matter on the Panel’s agenda before the Full Council meeting in November.

Councillor Clarke also shared concerns that the Panel would not have an opportunity to input on this matter considering that the role of this Panel was to scrutinise changes in health and social care.

The Chairman said that the subject was very significant for the area and that this matter should be put before the Panel much earlier and it should be within the political arena for debate. He felt that Transforming Community Services should not be only presented to the Members at one meeting (Full Council in November) but it should be debated by the Panel as well.

Janet Rowse said that as a result of the White Paper there was a requirement for all NHSs to put in place alternative organisational arrangements for their service delivery teams by the end of this financial year. This meant that community services were no longer able to be part of the NHS Bath and North East Somerset and new arrangements needed to be made for their organisational delivery. Both the Council and the NHS were committed to continue the integrated working across health and social care and recognise the significant strides made over the last couple of years in delivering more accessible and ‘joined up’ care to the service users. Group Leaders had been consulted on this issue and the plan was to have a full report for the Full Council meeting in November. The report that went for the Partnership Board for Health and Wellbeing meeting asked the Board members to agree the way forward and how the Board would want to be involved and kept up to dateabout the changes which would need to be implemented in the coming months and beyond. The report for the Full Council would have details of the business case for change for Community Health and Social Care Services.

Councillor Sandry felt that most Members might not understand the full scale of the change considering that 1,700 staff would be affected in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

At the time of publication no notifications had been received.

There was none.

To confirm the minutes of the above meeting as a correct record.

RESOLVED that minutes of the 19^th July 2010 meeting be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Panel will have an opportunity to ask questions to the Cabinet Member and to receive an update on any current issues.

The Chairman invited Councillor Vic Pritchard (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services and Housing) to update the Panel on current issues within his portfolio (attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes). Councillor Pritchard also informed the Panel that the Housing and Wellbeing Strategy (2010-2015) had been published and invited the Panel to engage in its update from time to time. 

The Panel asked the following questions and made the following points:

On a question from Councillor Sandry about the latest on the Tolerated Drinking Zone, Councillor Pritchard responded that an update would be provided soon to this and Safer & Stronger Communities Panel.

Councillor Sandry asked why Somer Housing pulled out from the new Homelessness Hostel Project.

Councillor Pritchard responded that the whole project became a challenge as the external funding to replace the funding previously allocated under the Places for Changes programme had not yet been secured and, as a result, Somer Housing showed no more interest in that project. However, Councillor Pritchard hoped that those organisations that showed interest in this project previously would come again.

Councillor Brinkhurst suggested that the Panel should have the Housing and Wellbeing Strategy once or twice a year on its agenda. The Chairman took that comment on board. The Chairman also informed the Panel that the Empty Property Policy, as part of the Housing and Wellbeing Strategy, was on the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel agenda for 23^rd September to which all Panel Members were invited to participate in the debate. 

The Chairman thanked Councillor Vic Pritchard for the update.

The Panel will receive an update from the BANES NHS on current issues.

The Chairman invited Janet Rowse to update the Panel on current issues in NHS BANES (attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes).

The Panel asked the following questions and made the following points:

The Chairman asked what would be the exact powers of the future statutory Partnership Board (as per the proposals within Government’s white paper ‘Equity and Excellence: liberating the NHS’). 

Janet Rowse responded that the new Partnership Board would berequired to be in shadow form by April 2011 and fully established by April 2012. Some of the principle responsibilities had been outlined in the update from the NHS BANES but the exact powers were not yet clear.

Lauren Rushen gave the latest information on Gynae Review. The Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Services (ASWCS) Network made a recommendation to the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) that the single site option was not viable option anymore. The ASWCS made a recommendation that the current arrangements of having two sites should continue. 

The Chairman thanked Janet Rowse for the update.

The Panel are asked to consider an update from the BANES Local Involvement Network.

Mike Vousden updated the Panel on current issues involving BANES LINk as per the report.

The Chairman asked if the LINks, within their future Health Watch role, would also take some Health Scrutiny role. 

Mike Vousden replied that he would not know the answer on that. He said that there should be a certain change in the whole Health Scrutiny concept for that to work out.

Councillor Brinkhurst asked if the LINks received any indication on funding, or lack of it, from the Council as from March 2011.

Mike Vousden replied that the LINks had no information in respect of that matter.

The Chairman thanked Mike Vousden for the update.

The Panel are asked to consider a presentation from the NHS BANES.

Janet Rowse gave a presentation (attached as Appendix 3 to these minutes), accompanied with the document ‘Right Care Best value Change’ (available on the minute book at Democratic services) where she highlighted following points:

·  Why do we need to change?

·  The need for change

·  Cost Pressures not standing still

·  The financial challenge – flat cash scenario

·  Identifying the options for change 

·  The Big Ideas

·  The profile of services - how things are now

·  How things can change

·  Impact of changes on the way services are arranged

·  What does it mean in 2011-12

o  Community teams supporting people

o  Hospitals become smaller and more focussed

o  Mental health and learning disabilities

·  The local health system – reasons to be confident

·  Engagement and communication

·  Consultation with people

The Panel asked the following questions and made the following points:

Councillor Brinkhurst commented that the NHS aim was to give patients more choice with their GPs. She asked what would be future plans in terms of walk-in centres.

Janet Rowse replied that out of hours services would move to the Accidents and Emergency in the RUH on pilot basis. GP led service had been expanded on national level. The NHS would need to distinguish what would be the need of the community and what would be value for money.

The Chairman commented that community support might not be relevant to everyone, for example for two people who were in their 90s and wheelchair bound.

Janet Rowse agreed with this comment. She added that, where it would be sensible and possible, the right care at home would be provided.

Councillor Brinkhurst commented that one area that would need to be considered within the change programme was provision of medication for patients over weekend.

Councillor Jackson expressed her concern that future service cuts might diminish the role and importance of preventive services (smoking prevention, obesity clinics, early cancer screening, etc).

The Panel RESOLVED to note the presentation.

This sets out the Panels future workplan for Panel members to discuss.

The Panel noted their future workplan with the following additions:

·  The Panel would have a special meeting by the end of October 2010 with only one item on the agenda, which is ‘Transforming Community Services’. The Chairman would communicate with the Panel the exact date, time and venue of the meeting.

Councillor Jackson queried if 'Counselling Services provided by the NHS BANES' would appear before the Panel. The Chairman said that he would follow this up although he was certain that the update should have been provided by the NHS BANES in advance of this meeting.