Democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Scott Bonner 

Items
No. Item

21/1

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

21/2

Minutes - Health Scrutiny Panel - 16 February 2021 pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Health Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 16 February 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

 

21/3

Minutes- Health Scrutiny Panel - 23 March 2021 pdf icon PDF 216 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Health Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 23 March 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

 

21/4

Proposed Schedule of Meetings Dates for the 2021/2022 Municipal Year pdf icon PDF 13 KB

Minutes:

The Chair presented the Panel with prospective meeting dates for the forthcoming municipal year and sought any comments.

 

ORDERED: That the proposed meeting dates for the forthcoming municipal year be agreed.

21/5

Covid-19 Update

Mark Adams, Director of Public Heath (South Tees) will be in attendance to provide an update on COVID-19 and the local Public Health / NHS response.

 

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed the Joint Director for Public Health to the meeting and invited him to provide an update on the current Covid situation. During his presentation the Director made the following points:

 

·         Infection rates in northern parts of the South Tees were growing in a similar way to areas such as Newcastle.

·         The Teesside areas were experiencing lower rates than others in the North East, however rates were picking up in the North East generally.

·         The upward trajectory of infections showed slow growth in Middlesbrough, but it was unlikely this rate would remain slow and plateau. 

·         Infections for those in the 0-19 age group had risen but plateaued whereas those in the 20-39 year age group had continued to rise.

·         There was a clear impact of the vaccination programme given infection rates for those within the 60+ age group was much smaller.

·         While there was less concern regarding hospital activity for younger people there were concerns regarding “Long Covid” in this age category as this was not fully understood.

·         Previous trends had also shown that peaks starting in younger age groups worked their way through to older age groups, although the vaccination programme had slowed this.

·         Positivity rates were picking up, but were still quite low.

·         Infection rates were spread across the town with no specific area affected. However there was no need for surge testing at that point.

·         With regard to hospital statistics; there were currently 12 in-patients in South Tees which was a slight increase.

·         While these numbers were not causing immediate concern the numbers were being monitored.

·         James Cook Hospital was standing up activity that was lost during the Pandemic, so any increase to patient numbers due to Covid would impact on this further.

·         Northumberland had the highest vaccination rate nationally with 85.7%. This was reflected in other rural more affluent areas of the country. Middlesbrough and Newcastle were positioned at the bottom of the list for vaccinations as these areas were generally younger and had more problems with deprivation.

·         Middlesbrough had a single dose vaccination rate of 67.5%.

 

A Member queried if the information being presented was current and what was being done to redress Middlesbrough’s low vaccination rate. It was confirmed the information was up to the 21st June 2021 and that various initiatives were being undertaken with Primary Care Networks to increase vaccine take-up, and to raise awareness of the vaccine. Examples included the Covid MELISSA Bus and moving to drop-in rather than booking models for distributing vaccines. 

 

It was noted that vaccine take-up numbers may not increase significantly initially as this was a longer-term strategy. Members were invited to suggest ideas to increase vaccine take-up.

 

A Member queried what messages could be transmitted across Social Media to increase awareness and dispel inaccurate information. It was clarified there were numerous initiatives being employed to communicate and promote the vaccination programme. This included the every concept counts approach whereby the message of vaccine take-up was transmitted to care givers who  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/5

21/6

Overview of Service Areas

Mark Adams, Director of Public Health (South Tees) will be in attendance to provide the Panel with an overview of the key areas of work undertaken by Public Health South Tees.

Minutes:

The Joint Director of Public Health provided an overview of his service and made the following points:

 

·         The position of Director for Public Health was statutorily mandated since the passing of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

 

·         The statutory duties if the Public Health Service were often wrapped up in other legislation which meant there was often no clear distinction between Public Health services the services supported by Public Health.

 

As the National Childhood Weight Management Programme was a mandated service a Member queried the accuracy of that programme as they felt it could be stigmatic for children to be labelled as obese. It was clarified that while the system for measuring children’s weight via the BMI index was not perfect it was something that could not be changed locally as it was a national programme. The Chair stated that it was an issue that could be brought back to the Committee as part of its work programme.

 

The Director continued with his presentation and made the following points:

 

·         The service was also required to be part of the Health and Wellbeing Board and to create Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which fed into the Joint Strategic Health and Wellbeing Strategy which ran until 2023, as well as creating the Pharmaceutical needs assessment.

 

A Member queried how the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment was being made available. It was confirmed that the JSNA was more accessible via web formats given the nature of its content. It was also clarified the JSNA needed to be updated going forward.

 

·         One of the principles that Public Health operated to was the offer of service across all areas but to target those services at some groups, so called “proportionate universalism”. Public Health’s job was to understand and appreciate different needs and how those needs were expressed.

·         Some of the key issues that Public Health were addressing were inequalities in life expectancy and health outcomes; reducing mortality and morbidity from preventable causes; and ensuring local population health is protected from infectious and communicable disease.

·         One of the approaches used by Public Health was the population intervention triangle, which it was hoped would allow a more focused approach to Service, Civic and Community interventions and services. Ultimately, this model tried to move away from simply providing a service.

·         Public Health’s values were based on a model of five Programmes, five Business Imperatives and three Levels of intervention across the life course.

 

A Member queried what successes the Heroin Assisted Treatment had seen. It was clarified that the evidence suggested the programme had been successful with the small number of participants involved. It was also clarified that the Police and Crime Commissioner was supportive of treatment being provided through the ADDER programme although his primary objective was to address the issue of drugs as a crime rather than as a public health issue. It was also confirmed that there was no immediate threat to the funding available to the programme.

 

·         The key issues and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/6

21/7

Review Topic Outline - Health for Wealth pdf icon PDF 670 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair and Democratic Services Officer advised the Panel that this review had been planned during the previous municipal year, but given the Panel’s different composition for the municipal year 2021-2022 it was prudent to outline the rationale and methodology for the review and invited comments from Members.

 

A Member suggested that, as part of the review, previous statistics relating to life expectancy rates across Middlesbrough be revisited to understand if any change had taken place. It was also suggested that representatives from the Health and Wellbeing Board be asked to attend to provide evidence.

 

A Member suggested that regular updates be provided to the Panel regarding progress in respite care at Aygarth and Bankfield.

 

A Member also suggested inviting the Clinical Directors of the Primary Care Networks to introduce themselves to the Panel.

 

ORDERED:

 

1. That the Health Inequalities review as presented to the Panel be undertaken;

2. That previous life expectancy statistics across Middlesbrough be fed into the Health Inequalities review;

3. That representatives of the Health and Wellbeing Board be invited to provide evidence in pursuance of the Health Inequalities review;

4. That regular updates be brought to the Panel regarding respite care at Aygarth and Bankfield and;

5. That the Clinical Directors of the Primary Care Networks in Middlesbrough be invited to the Panel by means of general introduction and service overview and

 

 

 

21/8

Setting the Scrutiny Panel’s Work Programme for 2021/2022 pdf icon PDF 300 KB

Minutes:

The Chair outlined the proposed work programme for the Municipal Year 2021-2022.

 

From the proposed work topics the Panel were keen to explore:

 

·        Health Inequalities – accessibility to Health Care

·        PFI Schemes at James Cook Hospital

·        Women’s Health and Infant Feeding and

·        Dental Health

 

A Member queried if it was possible to understand which NHS PFI contracts had been paid back.

 

In addition to the topics cited in the report the Panel were keen to receive information relating to the impact the Covid Pandemic has had on Mental Health.

 

In addition to the updates cited in the work programme report, and following a recommendation from the Adult Social Care’s Scrutiny Panel report into the LGBT+ community, the Panel were also keen to receive information from various Health providers relating to how those identifying as LGBT+ accessed health care.

 

ORDERED: That the topics identified from the work programme report and Member discussion be examined in the Municipal Year 2021-2022.

 

 

 

 

21/9

Any other urgent items which in the opinion of the Chair, may be considered

Minutes:

None.