Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Trueman and Holdich, Aidan Fallon and Arthur Bolton.

At this point Members must declare whether they have an interest, whether personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda. Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

There were no declarations of interest from Members of the Panel.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2008 were approved as a true and accurate record.

To receive a presentation regarding the formation of the Peterborough LINk.

The committee received a presentation from representatives of the Shaw Trust to advise of the progress made in establishing a Local Involvement Network (LINk) in Peterborough.  The committee was advised that a management structure had been established and current members of staff from the Shaw Trust had been allocated to provide support for the Peterborough LINk.

The committee was advised that the Shaw Trust currently supported another 17 LINk organisations and were able to tailor their support function to each individual LINk.  Members were advised that the Shaw Trust would work closely with the Panel to ensure high levels of communication and information sharing were provided.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

• There is no American association with Shaw Trust; it is a British organisation.
• A member of staff from the Peterborough area had been appointed by the Shaw Trust to begin the initial work to establish the LINk support mechanism; once the initial governance arrangements had been established, relevant sectors of the community would be contacted to become involved.
• Following the end of the mapping exercise in December 2008, the period of January-March 2009 is enough time to elect members to the LINk before 1 April 2009. 
• The Shaw Trust was chosen as it was able to initiate a quick set up and start time given their experience with other LINks.
• The initial members of the LINk would be chosen from across Peterborough by the Shaw Trust‘s management team.  These members would then elect members from amongst themselves to form the LINk committee.
• The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) would still operate to address queries from hospital and other patients.
• The management team is currently made up of volunteers, some having transferred form the previous PPIF (Peterborough and Public Involvement in Health Forum).
• The governance framework needs to be established before a full LINk is formed.  Therefore an interim management committee would work on formulating this until the LINk was ready to elect its own members.
• There is no permanent base for the LINk; current meetings were to be held at the Salvation Army headquarters in Peterborough.
• No details had been publicised yet as contact details had not been confirmed and members were still being appointed.

The Panel requested that the Health Scrutiny Officer arrange a meeting with political group representatives of the Panel and the Chair of the LINK to determine working protocols when it is fully established.

ACTION AGREED

1)         To note the report.

2)         To arrange a meeting with political group representatives of the Panel and the Chair of the LINK to determine working protocols when it is fully established.

To consider the impact of the charging policy and its future in the context of the changing nature of social care.

The committee received a report detailing the Council’s charging policy for non-residential Adult Social Care services that had been in operation for more than 5 years (implemented in its original form in April 2003) and had been subject to a number of reviews throughout this period. The report was submitted to the committee for it to consider the impact of the charging policy and its future in the context of the changing nature of social care.  The Committee was asked to review the current form of the Council’s charging policy, look at alternative options, and consider a number of amendments to the policy.

The committee was advised that nearly all local authorities charged for their social care services and Peterborough’s charging structure was in line with national averages.  A higher demand was expected for the services provided by NHS Peterborough on behalf of Peterborough City Council in the future.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

• The £60k income quoted in paragraph 5.1 of the report would not be realised as more people than predicted had been assessed as not needing to pay.  New administrative functions at no extra cost were now in place to enable more efficient collection of fees.
• The increase from £2 to £5 for day care service lasting more than 3 hours is still heavily subsidised and does not reflect the actual cost of providing the service.  The increase to £5 should see an extra £20k generated a year. It could be phased in over a number of years, although the estimated additional revenue would be correspondingly lower. 
• Approximately 100 people have declined social care services in the 07/08 year, not all of these solely due to the imposition of a charge. All of the reasons for declining are not known as the data gathered is not sufficiently detailed. There are approximately 1300 homecare service users, and approximately 500 day care service users. The charge for transport, attendance and a meal at a day care service could be as much as £9.10 per day if the £5 charge was introduced and someone was assessed for payment of the full charge.
• Some elderly people received disability benefits that are intended to help with the additional costs associated with disability, including social care services.
• The day care service was more heavily subsidised than other services and therefore it was proposed that the subsidy be reduced for this service.

Members of the committee expressed their concern over the level of the rise in the charge for day care from £2 to £5.  Members sought to have this decision submitted to full Council for debate before adoption.

ACTION AGREED

1)         To recommend the rise in day care be phased over a period of time.

2)         To recommend the decision to increase the cost of day care be submitted to full council before approval.

3)         NHS Peterborough officers to report back to the Panel with alternative pricing options.

To receive proposals for the development of the PCT 5 year Strategic Plan.

A report and presentation was submitted to advise the Panel of the progress and structure of the Strategic Plan for NHS Peterborough (Peterborough Primary Care Trust), along with key priorities and consultation proposals.  Members were advised of national statistics compared to Peterborough’s performance and the key areas to be targeted; 1 vision, 4 priority areas, 18 goals.  Members were also advised of the steps to initiate the plan for 2009/10.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

• Terms for a provider for some GP surgeries are currently being finalised.
• Contracts will include provision for GP surgeries to be open 7 days a week, 12 hours a day where possible and include weekend openings.
• Over 50% of GPs now operate longer hours of opening.
• Some GP surgeries may collaborate on service provision.
• Alcohol and drug misuse will be targeted under substance misuse.
• Although independent (non-NHS) providers might be used, the funding and commissioning of the providers will still remain with the NHS.

ACTION AGREED

To note the report.

To note the decision of the PCT Board regarding the long-term organisational model for Community Services.

The committee received a report on the decision of the PCT Board regarding the long-term organisational model for Peterborough Community Services and to update the committee on the progress of the future organisational arrangements.  Members were advised that the report was submitted to the PCT Board on 5 November 2008 and would be submitted to Cabinet on 15 December 2008.

ACTION AGREED

To note the report.

To note the ratings for all local NHS Trusts.

The committee received a report advising of the 2007/08 Annual Health Check ratings for local NHS Trusts published in October 2008 by the Healthcare Commission.  Members from each Trust detailed in the report gave feedback to the committee on the statistics that were shown. 

Members were advised that the Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust had requested that the figures for its section of the report were reviewed as the results were felt to be unreasonable.

The Chairman passed his congratulations to the representative from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Trust for its performance in the report.

The representative from the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust advised that although the Trust did not score well in all the ratings, measures had been taken to resolve the issues that affected the scores.  The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust agreed to provide a report to the committee detailing the changes that have been made since the figures for the ratings were taken.

Observations and questions were raised and responses given including:

• Only a draft budget was available in April 2008 as the income for the year ahead was not known.
• Many of the performance targets were not known at the beginning of the year and were only announced after work had already begun.
• Training on and provision of defibrillators has increased so that the performance ratings being determined by this improves.

ACTION AGREED

1)         To receive a report from the East of England Ambulance NHS Trust on the measures taken to address the performance issues of the Trust.

2)         To note the report.

To receive a standard report providing feedback on any issues or questions raised at previous meetings.

The Panel received a regular report that forms part of the Panel’s 2008/2009 work programme.  The Health Scrutiny Officer advised Members that a report would be brought to the committee in three months time following the installation of sharps disposal bins.  Members would be updated on the results of placing the bins at key sites where drug related litter was a problem.

ACTION AGREED

To note the report.

To consider the latest version of the Forward Plan.

The Panel received the Council’s Forward Plan which outlined forthcoming Executive Decisions for the period December 2008 to March 2009 for consideration.

ACTION AGREED

To note the report.

To consider the Panel’s latest work programme.

The Panel received and noted the latest work programme for 2008/2009. 

Tuesday, 6 January 2009 at 7.00pm in Bourges & Viersen Committee Rooms.

Tuesday, 6 January 2009 at 7pm in the Bourges/Viersen Room, Town Hall.