Agenda item

Members are asked to consider the information presented within the report and note the key issues described.

Alex Francis, Team Manager, Healthwatch B&NES addressed the Select Committee. A copy of the update can be found on their Minute Book and as an online appendix to these minutes, a summary of the update is set out below.

Enter and view programme

During this quarter the enter and view team undertook visits to two care homes (Cranhill Care Home and Cedar Park Residential and Nursing Home, both in Bath), with a further visit having to be re-scheduled due to a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.

The team has devised a programme of visits to take them through to autumn 2017. This programme has been shaped with input from the commissioning manager for care homes at B&NES Council, and the CQC.

In addition to the programme of visits for 2017, Healthwatch B&NES is also planning to carry out re-visits to providers that we have visited over the last two years to see how the recommendations that were made have influenced practice and people’s experiences of using services.

Healthwatch B&NES has recently presented to the Care Home Forum to inform care home managers about the enter and view function. Healthwatch B&NES hopes to maintain a positive working relationship with this forum in order to share learning and themes from enter and view visits, and develop links with settings and key personnel across the district.

Learning from patient experience

In January 2017, a project was outlined for Healthwatch B&NES to work with St. James’s Surgery and BaNES Clinical Commissioning Group in order to explore what works well when engaging patients in changes to General Practice.

A questionnaire was circulated to the patients that were affected by the closure of Weston Church Hall walk-in service in 2016. Healthwatch received 13 responses - 19% of those patients affected. Although a small number of responses, the feedback received provided insight into how communication about changes to services could and should be shared and how people felt processes such as this could be improved.

The responses received about the St. James’s Surgery suggested that patients had been well-informed of what was being proposed and were offered the opportunity to have a say in a way that was convenient for them.

Urgent care – gathering people’s views on local services

During this quarter, Healthwatch B&NES held five focus groups to understand people’s views and experiences of using local urgent care services. Throughout these sessions, Healthwatch B&NES spoke to 39 people, including those living with chronic conditions and their carers, and gathered feedback about what is working well and what could be improved.

The feedback gathered related to a number of services, including: NHS 111, the Urgent Care Centre at Combe Park, the Minor Injuries Unit at Paulton and the out of hours GP service. The report is being drafted and will be shared with providers and the Clinical Commissioning Group shortly. The full report and any responses from providers will be released in June 2017.

Councillor Paul May commented on the good work of Healthwatch and the focus it gives to the needs of the people. He asked if they awarded a rating following a review, similar to the CQC.

Alex Francis replied that Healthwatch does not issue its own ratings, but advised that there is a system via their website where members of the public can leave reviews and give their own ratings on services.

Councillor Paul May asked if there was role the Select Committee could play in highlighting the work of Healthwatch.

Alex Francis replied that she would be happy to discuss any such proposals with the Chair and other members of the Select Committee.

Councillor Geoff Ward asked what experience and qualifications do the staff within Healthwatch have to carry out visits.

Alex Francis replied that the volunteers that are authorised to carry out enter and view visits are trained specifically, have been DBS checked and have knowledge and understanding of safeguarding, people engagement and dementia.

The Chair thanked Alex Francis for the update on behalf of the Select Committee.