Agenda item

Christian Turner presented his update to the Board, as summarised below:-

-          Out of 11.2 million GP appointments across the integrated care system (ICS), 2.8 million were within North Yorkshire, a 9% increase from the previous year.

-          Long waits had started to come down.

-          There were improvements in users of urgent and emergency care being seen within four hours however this was still below the national target of 76%.

-          Stephen Eames had convened an emergency care summit in June. Chief Executives, Place Directors, and key leads from across the ICS met to discuss how to improve performance and avoid more users being transferred to emergency care. The plan that emerged from the summit was being developed, to be ready for Winter.

-          There was a backlog in cancer treatments which was now coming down. In North Yorkshire over 1200 people had completed their cancer path, a total of 7 fewer than the previous year.

-          There was significant investment coming into health inequalities which in North Yorkshire was being managed by Locality Care Partnerships. The model that had been deployed had been effective in understanding issues at the local level.

-          Within North Yorkshire 2000 people with disabilities had their annual mental health check last year, an improvement on the previous year.

-          In community services there had been a growth of virtual wards which had become an important part of the overall system as they have enabled people to leave hospital sooner than they otherwise would have.

The Chair asked for information regarding dentistry and the issues around deprived areas losing access due to the transfer of contracts. Christian advised that it was an issue across the ICS but there was work being done to find ways to become more flexible with the funding that was available and contracts in place. Sally Tyrer, Chair of the Primary Care Collaborative for North Yorkshire and York, added that the partners involved had shown an understanding of the issues. The ICS had shown innovative ideas in dealing with the issues, such as tackling health inequalities through offering ‘golden hellos’ to dentists.

Ashley Green added that it was positive the new government would look at dental contracts, and was optimistic towards the impact new training hubs could have across the ICS. In addition, he mentioned that the four biggest queries from the public were regarding dentistry, mental health, GP access, and waiting times.

Richard Webb provided his update, as summarised below:-

1.     The Change in government

-          The big issues were housing, house building, growth, and further devolution to mayoral authorities.

-          That there may be a royal commission on social care.

-          Anti-smoking legislation had been revived.

-          The Adult Social Care Work Force Strategy had been published.

2.     System Issues

-          Colleagues in the Harrogate and District Foundation Trust had renewed the integrated service for another year which would now focus more on intermediate care, as well as front door and back door prevention of admission to long-term beds.

-          There was a meting between the ICB and the Council which looked at mental health.

3.     Operational / Public Health and Social Care

-          There were issues regarding substance misuse whereby many areas were not meeting their treatment targets.

-          There was a Cabinet Office visit which looked at developing new practices.

-          Social Care had seen a hike in activity of hospital discharges, leading to more home care packages.

-          There were improvements in some priority waiting lists.

-          A decision from the North Yorkshire Council Executive had been made to close the Ashton and Malton Care Home as the current state of the premise did not warrant continued investment into maintenance. They were committed to an extra care scheme in the area and had looked at the potential to replace and refurbish remaining key care homes.