Brighton & Hove City Council
Overview & Scrutiny Committee
4.00pm23 March 2016
The Ronuk Hall, Portslade Town Hall
MINUTES
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Present: Councillors Simson (Chair), Allen, Bennett, Cattell, Deane, Marsh, O'Quinn, Page, Peltzer-Dunn and Wares
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PART ONE
54 Procedural Business
(a) Declarations of Substitutes
54.1 Councillor Druitt was present as substitute for Councillor Deane.
(b) Declarations of Interest
54.2 There were no declarations of interest.
(c) Exclusion of Press and Public
54.3 In accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the Act”), the Committee considered whether the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item of business on the grounds that it is likely in view of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during it, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act.
54.4 RESOLVED - That the public are not excluded from any item of business on the agenda.
55 Minutes
55.1 RESOLVED – That the Chair be authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2016 as a correct record.
56 Chairs Communications
56.1 The Chair gave the following communications –
“Welcome everyone to the last overview and scrutiny meeting of this year’s cycle. We’ve all learnt a lot about a wide range of issues, health related and otherwise, and I would like to thank you all for your enthusiasm and commitment to scrutiny. There’s a lot more for us to cover, both at this meeting and into future years.
One of our main focuses recently has been on GP provision & sustainability, and I was very glad to see so many of you at the GP workshop at the end of last month. You have been sent the summary notes of the workshop. The lead councillors and support officers have been considering the feedback that you gave, and the ways that we could take this forward. We have got an item at the end of this agenda so that we can all discuss it and agree the next stages.
I was also invited to attend the GP commissioning meeting for patients who attend the Practice plc surgeries and I was able to represent the views that we have heard here.
Finally there is a change in scrutiny support staff; Giles will be returning from his secondment to East Sussex next month, but this is Kath’s last meeting, and I would like to thank her for all of her support.”
57 Public Involvement
57.1 The Chair noted that there were no items for consideration from the public for the current meeting.
58 Member Involvement
58.1 The Chair noted that there were no items for consideration from Members for the current meeting.
59 Update from Co-Optees
59.1 Nicky Cambridge, Healthwatch representative, stated to the Committee that it would be her last Overview & Scrutiny Committee as a co-optee, as she was returning to the Policy team. David Liley would be the replacement co-optee for the Committee.
59.2 Colin Vincent, Older People’s Council representative, reported to the Committee that they had been campaigning on issues including: Tower House, public toilets, and changes to the concessionary bus pass.
59.3 Zac Capewell, Youth Council representative, explained to the Committee that the Youth Council was creating a video about life skills to be shown in local schools.
59.4 RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed to note the updates.
60 Promenade (Detox Beds) Report
60.1 Michael Mergler, Deputy Managing Director at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Peter Wilkinson, Consultant in Public Health, Brighton & Hove City Council, introduced the report and stated that Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust would be closing the Promenade Ward at Mill View Hospital on 31 March 2016.
60.2 It was explained to the Committee that the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provided the tier four inpatient substance misuse services on Promenade Ward as part of the mental health block contract for Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. The Trust had also been the provider for the populations of four south west London boroughs since January 2011.
60.3 The Deputy Managing Director explained to the Committee that Tier 4 in-patient detox services at Mill View were no longer financially or clinically viable, following the withdrawal of London Boroughs from their contract and the fact that SPFT is no longer involved in local (Tier 3) community substance misuse work.
60.4 The Public Health Consultant told members that alternative provision for Tier 4 detox had been agreed with Cranstoun, the local Tier 3 substance misuse provider. These services are located in London. Although this does present some potential difficulties, these are not insurmountable.
60.5 In response to Councillor Allen, it was explained that ideally there would be a local service available. However, the service in London was easily accessible by train and the patients could be escorted if necessary.
60.6 In response to Councillor Druitt, the Public Health Consultant explained that for patients who cannot be treated in London, alternative options would be found – e.g. through spot-purchase. It was added that relatives often wish to take the patients to the ward and staff within the community service could escort the patients on the transport if needed.
60.7 The Public Health Consultant clarified to Councillor Peltzer-Dunn that there was more support within the Community Substance Misuse Services for patients and there would be a review within a year with a possible budget adjustment.
60.8 In response to the Older People’s Council representative, it was agreed that a breakdown of the age groups of patients using the service would be distributed to the Committee.
60.9 The Public Health Consultant explained to the Committee that money had been allocated to fund transport for patients travelling to the London service.
60.10 The Chair proposed to the Committee that a further update should be reported to Overview & Scrutiny Committee after the Health & Wellbeing Board in October 2016.
60.11 RESOLVED – The Committee agreed to have a further update in October 2016 and agreed to note the report.
61 Brunswick Ward - Eliminating Mixed Sex Accommodation
61.1 Dr Gurprit Singh Pannu, SPFT Clinical Director Brighton & Hove; the Deputy Managing Director at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT); and the Consultant in Public Health, Brighton & Hove City Council, introduced the report to the Committee. It was explained that the SPFT had ceased to accept female admissions onto the Brunswick Ward, the Brighton & Hove inpatient dementia ward, at the end of February 2016. The decision was taken as part of a trust-wide response to the recent CQC inspection of dementia services and in line with the trust’s statutory requirements to eliminate mixed sex accommodation.
62.2 The Clinical Director explained that female patients would be admitted to other services in Horsham and Worthing whilst the work was being completed to develop a safe mixed sex ward. It was hoped that this would be completed by February 2017.
62.3 In response to Councillor Marsh, it was clarified that the ward would have single sex rooms with en suite facilities and specific communal areas and hallways would be mixed sex.
62.4 It was clarified that SPFT is working with the third sector to best support families and carers visiting patients relocated to other services. Temporarily taxis were being provided before finalising a long term solution.
62.5 In response to Councillor Druitt, it was confirmed that there was not anything specifically in the legislation regarding trans patients, although planning was ongoing to ensure that all patient needs are properly addressed. It was added that if a male had a traumatic experience with another male, a risk plan would be made around the individual when admitted to hospital.
62.6 RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed to note the report.
62 Adult Social Care Performance Report
62.1 Denise D’Souza, Executive Director Adult Services, BHCC, and Cat Harwood-Smith, Commissioning & Performance Manager, introduced the report and explained that report was from 2014/15, as later data is not yet available. The purpose of the report was to provide a summary of the adult care performance framework and specific benchmarked information against national performance indicators.
62.2 The Executive Director of Adult Services explained that Adult Care is benchmarked against a number of comparator authorities as well as against our geographical neighbours.
62.3 In response to Councillor Allen, it was clarified that more information would be provided to the Health & Wellbeing Board and Overview & Scrutiny Committee. The Chair clarified to the Committee that recommendations could also be made.
62.4 The Executive Director of Adult Services expressed to the Committee that there were concerns that there were not as many people using direct payments as hoped; however, they had introduced a pre-payment card and this had been successful.
62.5 In response to the Community Works representative, it was explained that the data in the report was from 2014/15 and work had been completed to address the transport issues and the next report should demonstration this.
62.6 The Executive Director of Adult Services explained to the Older People’s Council representative that there had been an ongoing problem with provision for older people. However, 38 beds had been secured in Partridge House for Brighton & Hove residents.
62.7 The Executive Director of Adult Services confirmed to the members that she would have a meeting with the officers supporting the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to ensure a full report is provided to a future Committee.
62.8 RESOLVED – That the report be noted.
63 South East Ambulance update report
63.1 James Pavey, Regional Operations Manager, South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb); Ben Banfield, Account Manager, SECAmb; Tim Fellows, SECAmb; and Simon Maurice, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust (BSUH), introduced the report.
63.2 The Regional Operations Manager explained that the main purpose of the report was to address concerns for the delays in response times and this was reflected in feedback from patients. It was confirmed to the Committee that a longer term plan was being established.
63.3 In response to the Chair, it was clarified that there are problems across the region with delays and some hospitals do have set procedures that work well; however, these are often not consistent. The main contributing problem was the hospital handover delays which were caused by staffing levels and the flow of patients being transferred from the ambulance to the hospital safely.
63.4 Mr Fellows confirmed to Councillor Cattell that the building and traffic works at the hospital had had no effect on the ambulance service.
63.5 The Regional Operations Manager explained to the Committee that the lead up to Christmas was less busy than expected but there had been an increase in activity after Christmas resulting in 15% more activity than planned for. The Account Manager added that the profile of demand had been unusual and they believe that this was due to there not being a significant flu in the build up to Christmas.
63.6 In response to the Chair, it was clarified that new cohort staffing arrangements had been introduced, although staffing pressures elsewhere in the emergency department meant that the cohort nurses could not always be deployed in the cohort area.
63.7 It was explained that a larger capacity or additional minor injury units would be unlikely to solve the current problems because demand tends to increase where emergency healthcare capacity is expanded.
63.8 RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed to note the report.
64 Update on Seafront Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel Recommendations
64.1 Nick Hibberd, Head of City Regeneration, BHCC; and Ian Shurrock, Head of Sport & Leisure, introduced the report and explained that the report was to provide an update on the progress made towards the recommendations that were approved by Policy & Resources Committee on 22 January 2015.
64.2 The Head of City Regeneration stated to the Committee that investment had been made and strategic plans had been discussed at the Greater Brighton Economic Board and the Infrastructure Panel. It was added that there had been progress, including: the majority of the arches had been successfully rebuilt, opened and rented out; the i360 was being completed; Dalton Baiston site proposals and the Brighton Waterfront project was being looked into.
64.3 In response to the Youth Council representative, the Head of City Regeneration explained that the profit made from the i360 would be reinvested into the seafront and would be used to improve the landscaping around the West Pier and i360 location.
64.4 In response to Councillor Wares, the Head of City Regeneration clarified that the Madeira Terraces structure does not produce any profit; however, they are looking for a project that will enable profit.
64.5 The Head of City Regeneration explained that they consult with the traders, have regular meetings and inform them of any changes or developments with the work as soon as possible.
64.6 RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed to have an update report in 12 months.
64.7 RESOLVED – That the Committee agreed to note the report.
65 Update on GP sustainability workshop
65.1 The Chair introduced and explained that the purpose of the report was to enable members to consider the potential actions it wishes to take in relation to the issue of GP sustainability in the city.
65.2 RESOLVED – The Committee agreed to have six monthly reviews and a full report in January 2017.
The meeting concluded at 7.05pm
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Signed
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