Agenda item

The Select Committee will receive an update from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on current issues.

Dr Ian Orpen addressed the Select Committee, a summary of the update is set out below.

Your Care, Your Way

The CCG and the Council are seeking a prime provider of community health and care services to work alongside us to coordinate over 60 different areas of service; sub-contracting to smaller, specialist providers where appropriate.  We are currently in the second stage of the procurement with two organisations remaining in the process:

1. Virgin Care

2. Sirona Care & Health, in partnership with:

·  Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

·  Bath and North East Somerset Enhanced Medical Services

·  Dorothy House Hospice Care

·  Royal United Hospitals’ Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH)

The two bidders provided written responses to a series of questions on 23 May and a group of evaluators including commissioners, subject matter experts and community champions will convene on 6 June to finalise the scoring of the bids.

Following detailed dialogue with both bidders over the next few months we plan to announce the new provider by early November 2016.

Sustainability and Transformation Plan

The CCG continues to work across the B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire footprint with key providers on the development of a Sustainability and Transformation Plan.  Plans need to be submitted by 30 June 2016.

Catherine Cottage merger with St James’s Surgery

Dr Orpen noted his interest in this issue as he is a partner at St James’s Surgery.

St James’s Surgery and Catherine Cottage Surgery in Bath will become one GP practice on 1 July 2016 with GPs and staff at Catherine Cottage leaving behind their Catherine Place premises and moving into the St James’s facilities.

The merger will give patients greater access to GPs, nurses and other primary care services in modern healthcare premises at Northampton Buildings or the more traditional branch surgery at Junction Road, Oldfield Park.  Merging the two practices will also create back office efficiencies, increasing the time available for direct patient care.

Patients registered with Catherine Cottage Surgery will automatically be registered with St James’s Surgery and do not need to take any action. Information about other practices in the area has also been provided should patients wish to register elsewhere.

Primary Care Transformation Fund and Statement of Intent

The CCG is working closely with our 27 member practices to develop a bid to the national Primary Care Transformation Fund covering both estates and technology. 

As part of this process the CCG has prepared a draft Statement of Intent to set out how we see primary care services developing in B&NES over the next five years.  The CCG is seeking feedback from practices on the statement, which will form the basis of a draft primary care strategy for B&NES.  We have plans to engage more widely with the general public and other stakeholders later in the year and will be attending the five Area Forums in June /July as well as the Bath City Conference.

Diabetes Roadshow

In April, the Diabetes UK Roadshow came to Bath’s historic town centre to offer a free Type 2 diabetes risk assessment to passers-by. On the first day of the show, the team screened over 120 people, and numbers were higher on the second day, not least thanks to some spring sunshine.

Members of the public were encouraged to step into the Roadshow bus, give their weight, height and waist measurements and fill out a short health questionnaire to enable Diabetes UK staff to assess their risk. Anyone deemed to be at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes was given an information pack from Diabetes UK and a referral letter to take to their GP.

The charity then returned to Bath’s Hilton hotel later in the month for a one-off ‘Living with Diabetes’ day, where anyone with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes was welcomed to share their experiences and learn how to manage their condition more confidently.

Join Dementia Research

Over the past months, B&NES CCG has been actively supporting the Join Dementia Research campaign via social media. Ian Orpen also attended a Mayoral Civic Reception in Bath earlier this month to mark the city’s major contribution to dementia research. The event drew in representatives from local charities, health networks, hospitals and general practices across the region.

During the reception, Bath’s Mayor, Councillor William Sandry and I celebrated the work of Join Dementia Research and signed up to the service, encouraging attendees to do the same and pledge their support for it.

Since Join Dementia Research launched last year, the Bath area has contributed approximately 350 people to the service, making up a quarter of registrations from the entire West of England. There are currently seven research studies open in the Bath area.

Pledge to be an Antibiotic Guardian

Resistance to antibiotics is rapidly increasing so it is becoming more difficult to treat infections. This will affect routine patient care such as surgery and cancer treatment.  Some countries have seen drug resistance rates more than double in the past five years, and in England the number of resistant infections is increasing each year.  Research has shown that use of antibiotics can harm the good gut bacteria and leave people susceptible to other infections such as Clostridium difficile that are harder to treat.

To sign up as an Antibiotic Guardian, visit www.antibioticguardian.com

Councillor Lin Patterson said that at a recent Your Health, Your Voice meeting the subject of young people aged 16 / 18 and their ability to access adult mental health services as they transition from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) was raised. She said that she understood that additional funding had been made available on a 2-year basis to improve transitions from CAMHS to adult mental health services.

Dr Orpen replied that a review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) was ongoing.

The Director of Adult Care and Health Commissioning confirmed that the Government had announced funding for CAMHS Services and that a briefing could be circulated setting out what funding had been made available and how it has been or is planned to be used. 

Councillor Eleanor Jackson raised the issue of GP availability, in particular the fact that at a recent Development Management Committee an application was refused as local GP’s had stated that they could not have coped with the influx of new patients associated with new housing developments locally.

Dr Orpen replied that he was aware of this issue alongside colleagues in Public Health and the need to have facilities and workforce in place to meet demand. He added that there are good satisfaction and outcome levels for the area on this matter.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson said that she was encouraged by the current view on integrated care and she welcomed the holistic approach. She added that she thought that the Diabetes Roadshow was an excellent idea and encouraged it to come back to the area again and visit Midsomer Norton & Keynsham.

She asked if Dr Orpen had an answer to a question she had submitted to him prior to the meeting regarding Bristol Eye Hospital and the dispensing of eye drops.

Dr Orpen replied that he did have a response on the matter and he would circulate it to Councillors after the meeting.

Councillor Paul May stated that he felt that the Sustainability and Transformation Plan would affect residents within North East Somerset if they had to attend hospitals in either Swindon or Wiltshire rather than in Bristol. He asked for these concerns to be raised with the Health & Wellbeing Board.

The other members of the Select Committee agreed with the comments made by Councillor May.

Dr Orpen said that it was the intention of the CCG to provide the best service for the residents of B&NES.

The Chair thanked Dr Orpen for his update on behalf of the Panel.