Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Lindsay Burr, John Mann with Councillor Andy Paraskos attending as substitute and Councillor David Noland with Councillor Arnold Warneken attending as substitute.

Hambleton District Councillor Kevin Hardisty & Selby District Councillor Jennifer Shaw-Wright.

Councillor Tom Watson attended as substitute for Councillor Middlemass from Harrogate Borough Council.

There were no declarations of interest.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2022 be taken as read and be confirmed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Any correspondence, communication or other business brought forward by the direction of the Chairman of the Committee.

There were none.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Christine Phillipson, Principal Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer (contact details below) no later than midday on Tuesday 14^th June 2022. Each speaker should limit himself/herself to 3 minutes on any item. Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-

at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

A member of the public who has submitted a question of statement will be offered the opportunity to read out their question/statement at the remote meeting, via video conferencing, or have it read out by the Chair or Democratic Services Officer. We are not able to offer telephone conferencing due to limitations with the technology and concerns about confidentiality.

There was one public question submitted by Roger Tuckett, Interim CEO, Yorkshire Adult Autism Action Group.

He asked the following question,

“What action will this Committee, together with relevant Officers, take to:

       a) maintain close oversight and scrutiny of developments in this matter, and

       b) ensure TEWV and the new Humber and North Yorkshire ICB produce

and implement costed action plans to remedy an underdeveloped care system in North Yorkshire for Autistic people”.

Councillor Andrew Lee, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Health Committee responded,

"The committee acknowledges the concerns raised and will follow-up with the Tees Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust.”    

Councillor Lee also agreed that this may be discussed further under agenda point 9, the work programme later in the Committee meeting.

Considered – Daniel Harry, Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager, North Yorkshire County Council, introduced this item providing Members with a summary of how overview and scrutiny is undertaken at the Council and the role Members have within that. The responsibilities and powers of the Committee were also identified.

Key points to note were

·       This is a new Committee and encourages Member and Officer participation.

·       The Committee acts as a check and balance, in order to explore and challenge.

·       Joint working with external partners works well and is encouraged.

·       Work programme and mid cycle briefings are invaluable in maintaining focus on the areas to prioritise.

·       There were a number of major hospitals in the area.

·       The future of the NHS and the changes to service delivery, Committee to respond and contribute.

Some of the key areas of the work of the Committee over the past 5 years were identified including:

·       Mental health services: the move from in-patient provision to more specialist, enhanced community services

·       Re-development of Whitby and Scarborough Hospitals, ageing infrastructure and options considered for smaller ‘cottage’ hospitals

·       Hyper acute stroke provision of the populations of Harrogate and Scarborough and the adoption of a new treatment pathway in line with nationally recognised best practice

·       Workforce shortages and how this is a factor in shaping the development of local NHS services in the county

·       Access to NHS dentistry

·       Strategic changes to NHS commissioning and delivery from the emergence of the Sustainability and Transformational Partnerships model through to the Integrated Care Systems

·       Collaborative work the Area Constituency Committees.

Themes for the next 5 years of the Committee were also suggested, in particular:

·       Changes to NHS structures, the creation of the Integrated Care Systems, Partnerships and Boards

·       Changes to primary care and the possible emergence of a more integrated models of delivery

·       Greater collaboration between hospitals over the provision of services and sharing key staff

·       Workforce shortages, particularly rural and coastal, across a range of different specialisms and how this force changes to services

·       The long term impact of the pandemic on changing how services are accessed and delivered, including the greater of use of technology

·       Ageing population, the provision of services to frail and elderly people

·       Finance pressures with the local NHS system

·       Mental health services, access, range of services and CQC inspections

·       Autism services, young people and adults.

Councillor Andy Solloway suggested that future Scrutiny Committees could be on line or in a hybrid format which would continue to save time and money in travel and accessibility.

It was agreed that attendance via remote methods had proven to be good, but reiterated that in order to vote Members must be physically present, however there was ongoing discussions looking at options to utilise facilities in divisional offices.

Councillor Liz Colling endorsed the views of Councillor Solloway agreeing that the expertise from external guest speakers was invaluable and the hybrid model would be advantageous to continuing this.

Councillor Peter Lacey asked what the scope of the scrutiny committee was in terms of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 210.

Considered – Dr Victoria Turner, Public Health Consultant, North Yorkshire County Council gave a verbal presentation on prevalence data of the pandemic and vaccination rates. The purpose of this was to inform and update the Committee on the Covid situation. The presentation covered the living with Covid 19 plan with the main points to consider being:

·       Move from the government mandate to individual responsibility on key measures including isolation, testing and wearing face coverings

·       Routine contact tracing and legal requirement to isolate ended 24th February

·       End of (most) free COVID-19 testing for general population 1st April

·       Possible COVID-19 – stay at home, avoid contact with others, wear a mask if you have to leave home

·       Confirmed COVID-19 – stay at home and avoid contact with others for 5 days (3 days if under 18).

Vaccination rates confirm the vaccination uptake (aged 12+) in North Yorkshire is 89.5% for the 1^st dose, 86.2% for the 2^nd dose and 73.7% for the third. This compares with England as a whole at 79.7%. 75.7% and 59.6% respectively. Vaccinations can still continue to be booked through the NHS website, and a 4^th booster for specific groups of people are now being administered.

Councillor Andrew Murday asked about the prospects for winter and whether this was a consideration.

Victoria Turner confirmed that modelling and predictions for the winter were currently being looked at, along with a 4^th booster rollout.

Councillor Paul Haslam expressed concern that infection rates were rising by 25% week by week and asked how many people were suffering with long Covid.

Victoria Turner estimated that 1 in 20 people may have long Covid and there is an acceptance that people may get Covid 2 or 3 times.

Councillor Liz Colling asked what the plans were if the increase in cases continues as some vaccination centres had now been stood down.

Victoria Turner confirmed there were no specific plans for North Yorkshire but the centres are ready to be stood back up if required and this was implemented almost overnight previously and the expectation is that this may be the case in the autumn.

There followed a discussion the main points summarised below:

·       Across North Yorkshire the data suggests 10% of the population have not been vaccinated

·       Discussions are taking place with the NHS to combine flu and Covid vaccinations going forward

·       A rise in hospitalisations has been recognised but the average for North Yorkshire is a reflection of elsewhere

·       A rise was  expected but the rate is not as high as previously which suggests the vaccine is working and protection is lasting well

·       Public health information will communicate plans and awareness for the winter months.

Councillor Andrew Lee summed up, thanking Victoria Turner for attending and responding to questions from Committee members.

Resolved:-

1)         That Victoria Turner attend a future meeting of the Committee should there be an emergence of a new variant of the Covid virus that is of concern or should the Committee request further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 211.

Considered - The report provided Members with an update on the work and achievements of The Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust and information on their continued response to the Covid pandemic.

The main points of the report covered:

·       Covid and operational pressures

·       Mental Health project

·       Emergency Operations Centre redevelopment work

·       Paramedic rotation

·       New Scarborough station plans

·       Electronic patient record.

There followed a discussion with the key points as summarised below:

·       Inclusion of the Yorkshire Ambulance service in the Committees mid cycle briefing

·       More discussion on this is welcomed

·       Any help we can give as a committee in terms of asking questions and including data in reports

·       Figures on staff turnover would be useful to see.

Resolved:- That a discussion on the Yorkshire Ambulance Service report is included in the Committees mid cycle briefing.

Report of Christine Phillipson, Principal Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer, North Yorkshire County Council

Considered – a presentation by Daniel Harry, Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager, North Yorkshire County Council.

·       The objective was to enable the Committee to review the work programme and make suggestions for areas of scrutiny for inclusion on the work programme for the remainder of the year, with an opportunity to encourage discussion around the work programme and identify items for consideration over the next 18-24 months.

There followed a discussion the key areas being suggested to include in the work programme are summarised below:

·       Nutrition and diet how this effects health and wellbeing

·       Looking at the quality of meals in schools and prison’s

·       The Government’s handling of the pandemic

·       The crucial relationships with the Integrated Care Board and Integrated Care System, working with Area Constituency Committees and feeding back to the executive

·       Political representation on Area Constituency Committees

·       The pressures on workforces

·       Realistic data, for example Scarborough Hospital and the cover that provides logistically

·       Autism and the service provided

·       Outdated autism strategy

·       Dentistry

·       Ambulance service

·       Preventative solutions in social prescribing for better health

·       Access to GP surgeries

·       Informing the public about changes to the way the NHS now operates GP services

·       Disparity of NHS services across the county

·       Additional pressures created on accident and emergency departments.

Councillor Andrew Lee summed up and thanked Members for their contributions and stated that the Chair, Vice Chair and officers would work together, look at the suggestions and prioritise in order to work effectively.

Councillor Lee also confirmed the previous suggestion to complete a deep dive into autism.

Resolved:-

1)    The Chair, Vice Chair and officers would discuss the work plan at the mid cycle briefing on 22 July and prioritise the suggested areas of concern taking into account timescales and officer availability.

2)    A deep dive into autism be set up to start as soon as possible as a separate meeting outside the Committee.

There was no further business.