Agenda item

(To receive a report which sets out the work programmes of the Adults and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire; in accordance with the Board's agreed programme)

Members were informed that at their meeting held on the 4 July 2019, the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee had discussed the concerns raised by the Board that the indicator defined as 'enquiries where the source of risk is a service provider' was a national indicator and should not be replaced by the new indicator: concerns that lead to a safeguarding enquiry.

The Scrutiny Committee accepted the rationale that the new indicator defined as 'concerns that lead to a safeguarding enquiry' provided a better standalone measure of the level and consistency of understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and processes across the system. The Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee concluded with a recommendation that only this indicator should continue to be presented in the Council Business Plan and provided this advice to the Executive.

The Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire outlined the recent work undertaken by the committee, which included the following:

·       The Committee was seeking further details on the plans for Pilgrim Hospital following the announcement of an allocation of capital funding for the hospital.

·       On 10 July 2019, the Committee had considered the consultation on the proposed closure of the Skellingthorpe Branch Surgery. The Chairman had sent a letter on behalf of the Committee which stressed the importance of discussions taking place between the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Skellingthorpe Parish Council on the possibility of providing some form of volunteer driver scheme and/or minibus scheme, which would help residents from Skellingthorpe without transport to get to appointments in Saxilby.   The outcome of the decision would be reported to the Committee at its meeting on the 18 September 2019.

·       The Committee was next due to consider non-emergency patient transport in December 2019.  The Committee had previously recorded a vote of no confidence in Thames Ambulance Service Ltd, the existing provider, and has urged Lincolnshire West CCG, the lead commissioner, to terminate the contract at the most appropriate opportunity. 

Members were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were noted:

·       It was clarified that the Committee was pushing for a transport service to be implemented should the Skellingthorpe Branch Service be closed, but this would ultimately need to be organised by the CCG in conjunction with the Parish Council.

·       The Committee was closely monitoring the issue of non-emergency patient transport and the Committee felt that there was no consistency in the service. It was felt that the level of risk would not increase through the move to a new provider.

·       In relation to the issue of non-emergency patient transport, officers had been engaged in early discussions with the CCG in which it had been suggested that spreading the risk through a number of providers would be a more strategic approach, along with looking at ways in which the CCG could move forward to provide greater efficiencies and a better service.

RESOLVED:

          That the Board was satisfied with the future work programmes of the             Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and the Health Scrutiny C     ommittee for Lincolnshire.