Agenda item

The Democratic Services Officer presented the submitted report. The following information was provided:

· At the start of every municipal year, panel members discussed the topics that they would like to review during the coming year.

· Work programmes were useful as they provided some structure to a scrutiny panel’s activity and allowed for the effective planning and preparation of work.

· Referenced in the report was a list of topics which were anticipated to be of particular interest to the scrutiny panel.

· The topics that had been agreed last year, which had not been investigated were PFI schemes at James Cook University Hospital, Women’s Health and Infant Feeding and Dental Health

· The topical issues referenced in the report were - the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care, the Khan review: making smoking obsolete, mental health care of children and young people post COVID-19.

· The suggestions received for the scrutiny panel’s consideration were – British Sign Language Act 2022, dental health and the impact of COVID-19, women’s health and access to GP services.

· When considering its work programme, the scrutiny panel was asked to ensure that topics agreed for inclusion met the criteria detailed at paragraph 13 of the report.

· A prioritisation aid was included at Appendix 1 to enable Members to determine topics where scrutiny can make an impact, add value or contribute to policy development.

· It was recommended that the scrutiny panel identified two topics it would like to include in its work programme, those would then be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Board for approval.

A Member put forward a suggestion that the scrutiny panel investigated the topic of the quality and accessibility of GP services in the town. With a view to establishing what sort of wait times there were across the town, to consider the key statistics regarding the quality of GP services and the challenges faced locally by GP practices.

A Member made reference to the issue of dental provision and it was highlighted that registering with an NHS dentist was a major issue across the town. A consultation was also currently being undertaken with regard to a possible merger involving three small dental practices in Middlesbrough moving to form part if a super amalgamated dental practice, which would be outside of the town. Provision was therefore a key issue and it was felt that there would be real benefit in the panel considering this topic in 2022/2023. 

A Member commented that it would be useful for the panel to have some information provided on how the new neurological pathway for children was operating and the impact it was having on access to services.

A Member expressed the view that it would be useful to have some degree of investigation into the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) given that there had been some horrifying stories on how the strains on the ambulance service had left some people in desperate situations. It was advised that this issue had been taken up by local Members of Parliament in a debate in the House of Commons recently. However, Middlesbrough’s Health Scrutiny Panel had undertaken a piece of work in 2009 in respect of proposals put forward by NEAS at that time to relocate the contact centre from Teesside to Hebburn. Many of the concerns raised at that time in respect of loss of regional knowledge / future impact on the service had since materialised. It was therefore felt that it would be useful for NEAS to attend a future meeting of the panel to discuss what measures were being put in place to ensure ambulance services were working as well as they could on Teesside.

A discussion ensued and Members agreed topics for inclusion in the scrutiny panel’s work programme for 2022/23.

AGREED as follows:-

a)    That the topics listed below be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Board for approval and inclusion in the work programme of the Health Scrutiny Panel for 2022/2023:

In-depth reviews

· Dental health and the impact of COVID-19

· GP access and quality of service

Short review

· The Neurodevelopmental Pathway

· NEAS / ambulance service provision in Middlesbrough

b)      That a copy of the scrutiny report produced in 2009 in response to the NEAS consultation on the relocation of the contact centre be circulated to Members of the panel.