Present at the meeting:
- Councillor N D Ash (Chairman)
- Councillor Mrs J M Peet (Vice Chairman)
- Councillor N A Bradbury
- Councillor S Dawber
- Councillor M A Dewhurst
- Councillor Mrs S Dewhurst
- Councillor Mrs D Fairhurst
- Councillor Mrs S J Greensmith
- Councillor Mrs J Hurst
- Councillor E Russon
- Councillor R T Splaine
- Councillor J Talbot
Officers in attendance
- N P Lamper – Democratic Services Manager
- G Finch – Principal Officer – Scrutiny
- C Milson – Solicitor
- K Cullen – Trainee Committee Clerk
Officers presenting reports
- B A Walker – Executive Director of Health and Well-being
- L Sutton – Service Director – Personalisation and Community Services
- J Jeffers – Head of Service – Provider and Quality Assurance
- S Eid – Head of Service – Strategy and Commissioning
- A Foster - Chief Executive, Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
1 Welcome to new Members: The Committee welcomed Councillor N D Ash as the Chairman of the new Adult, Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee and Councillors Mrs D Fairhurst, Mrs J Hurst, P Liptrot and E Russon.
2 Apologies for absence: Councillors R J Derricutt, L E Fagan and P Liptrot.
3 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Adult Services Panel held on 17 March 2009 were submitted for information and were approved as a correct record.
4 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust – Annual Report: The Chief Executive of the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, Andrew Foster, gave a presentation on the Trust’s Annual Report and an overview of the trusts overall performance. The achievements highlighted were:
- award of foundation trust status;
- achievement of ‘good’ rating from the Healthcare Commission;
- significant reduction in infection rates;
- outstanding reduction in mortality rates; and
- achievement of the government 18 week target.
Members were informed that there were five areas for improvement within the Trust; and these were:
- Accident &Emergency performance;
- high bed occupancy;
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus;
- complaints; and
- patient outflows and inflows.
Members asked what the Trust had done to reduce the number of MRSA cases. The Chief Executive informed that there had previously been an issue with blood samples taken by junior doctors and nurses whereby MRSA had transferred from their skin. He informed Members that 20% of people have MRSA on their body, but that this only causes a problem if it gets into the blood stream. Procedures had been tightened up by use of a new form, which doctors and nurses had to fill in, stating the reasons why they were taking the blood test and confirming that they had been properly trained in aseptic techniques. It was also standard procedure for all staffs’ hands to be disinfected.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- thanks the Chief Executive of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust for his presentation; and
- requests that he presents a report to the committee in six months time on the progress against the five identified areas for improvement.
5 Wigan, Wrightington and Leigh Foundation Trust/Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT – contract value: This item was withdrawn.
6 Transfer of Ophthalmology Services: The Chief Executive of the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust, Andrew Foster, gave a presentation on the transfer of Ophthalmology Services. He gave a brief background to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and the pressures it was facing, and presented to Members the proposed plans for the phase V development on the Infirmary and informed Members that all the plans were strictly subject to planning permission.
Members asked a number of questions, which included the following salient points:-
- How many patients use Christopher Home and how many operations are done there?
- Who would the consultation involve in respect of the transfer of Opthalmology Services?
The Chief Executive advised that he would provide a response to all Members of the Committee on the first point. He then informed Members that Wigan Council would give advice on the consultation and then decide if public consultation was necessary. It would be the Primary Care trust which would carry out the consultation on behalf of the Trust and that the consultation would be overseen by this Committee.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- thanks the Chief Executive of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust for his presentation; and
- requests that he provides an update on the transfer of the Opthalmology Services in due course.
7 Department of Adult Services new structure: The Executive Director of Health and Well-being, Bernard Walker presented the structure of the Adult Service’s Department, together with details of its functions.
The Executive Director informed Members that there had been a number of changes to the Adult Services Department during 2009, including some new appointments. He also provided Members with the details of the roles and responsibilities of each of the members of the senior management team.
Resolved: The Committee notes the new departmental structure.
8 Social Care Transformation Action Plan: The Service Director – Personalisation and Community Services, Louise Sutton presented a report which informed Members of the context of the Social Care Transformation Action Plan and the highlights of how the key themes of transformation would be achieved.
She informed Members that the overall timescale for implementation of the plan ran until March 2011 and progress would be monitored by the Social Care Transformation Board, with periodic reports being submitted to the Adult, Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee.
Members asked a number of questions which included the following salient points:-
- What happens if people have been accessed and given a point score but their circumstances change?
- Under the new system of self assessment, what is meant by “being supported?”
The Service Director assured Members that they would always return to re-assess people in the future if any circumstances changed. Under the new system, “supporting” could mean sitting down with someone and taking the time to help them fill out the form, instead of a social worker assessing their needs. She informed Members that they would put in as much time and guidance as each person needed.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- will use the information provided to assist in structuring a future work plan for this Committee;
- requests that a social worker and service user be invited to attend a future Adult, Health and Well-being Committee, to give their views on the Social Care Transformation Action Plan; and
- requests a detailed progress report on the implementation of the revised Social Care transformation Action Plan in six months time.
9 Adult Safeguarding: The Head of Service – Provider and Quality, Julie Jeffers, presented a report which provided Members with a summary of the developments and activity in Adult Safeguarding over the last 12 months.
The Head of Service informed Members that whilst safeguarding adults did not have the same legislative framework and drivers as in Children’s Services, there was none-the-less a growing recognition that this was an area which deserved equal attention, particularly with regard to the personalisation agenda.
Members asked a number of questions, which included the following salient points:-
- What is the scoring that is given out by the Care Quality Commission?
- Would it be appropriate for Members from this Committee to be Members of the Safeguarding Board
- Could the Strategic Plan that will be produced by the Safeguarding Board be presented to the Committee?
The Executive Director of Health and Well-being and the Head of Service – Provider and Quality advised Members that the scores given out by the Care Quality Commission were Poor, Adequate, Good and Excellent. They informed the Committee that virtually no Authority in the country had scored Excellent. The Executive Director informed Members that the usual practice was for him to report back issues from the Safeguarding Board to the Committee and that the board’s minutes were available. The strategic plan that was produced by the Safeguarding Board could also be brought to this Committee
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes the information provided and requests that the Safeguarding Board Action Plan be submitted to it in due course; and
- requests a progress report on Adult safeguarding in six months.
10 Review of Co-opted Membership 2009/10: The Principal Officer - Overview and Scrutiny, Gary Finch, presented a report, which reviewed the Co-opted Membership of the Adult, Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee.
The Committee was requested to agree on the organisations, if any, that it felt would be appropriate to be co-opted on to the Committee for the Municipal year 2009/10.
Resolved: The Committee declines to appoint non-statutory Co-opted Members for this municipal year, but seeks to invite organisations and partners to attend Committee meetings as it sees appropriate once a work plan has been established.
Chairman
The meeting concluded at 8.05pm.
