Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Committee and made the following announcements:-

i)          Membership

The Chairman reported that West Lindsey District Council had appointed Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings as its representative on the Committee in place of Councillor David Bond for 2016/17.  The Committee was advised that Councillor Mrs Rollings was also a County Councillor for Scotter Rural.  Councillor Angela White remained the replacement member for Councillor Mrs Rollings.

Three further changes had been made to replacement members for District Councillors:-

·       Councillor Jane Loffhagen for City of Lincoln Council (as previously reported);

·       Councillor Stephen Woodliffe for Boston Borough Council; and

·       Councillor Neil Jones for East Lindsey District Council.

The Chairman also encouraged Members to send the replacement member to a meeting if they were unable to attend themselves to ensure their district was represented.  The substantive member was asked to ensure that the replacement has the papers for the meeting. 

ii)         Community Pharmacy in 2016/17 and Beyond

The Chairman confirmed that a letter had been written to the Secretary of State for Health on behalf of the Committee on the topic of Community Pharmacy in 2016/17 and Beyond.  The letter had also been copied to the Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP, Minister of State for Community and Social Care, and all Lincolnshire Members of Parliament. 

The Chairman reported that a reply had been received from Alistair Burt MP which referred to the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme which would provide more NHS funds to pharmacies on the basis of health needs of the local population and the location.  It was also stated within the response that the Department of Health was unable to assess which pharmacies would close as they were unaware of the financial viability of individual businesses.

At the last meeting, the Committee was advised of a petition on the Parliament website entitled "Community Pharmacy in 2016/17 and Beyond".  Currently, there were 64,464 signatures which meant it was unlikely that the petition would reach the threshold of 100,000 required to trigger a debate in Parliament by the deadline of 29 June 2016.

The detail of the relationship between the Department of Health and Community Pharmacists remained unclear to the Committee.  The Health Scrutiny Officer suggested that the information presented to the Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board at their meeting in May 2016 be circulated to the Committee as this went some way to explain that relationship.

iii)       Quality Accounts Working Group

The most recent meeting of the Quality Accounts Working Group took place on 14 June 2016 to consider the Quality Account of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT), a statement for which would be drafted and finalised by 20 June 2016.

The Quality Accounts for Boston West Hospital and St Barnabas Hospice both required consideration before the process was complete.

At the July meeting the Committee would be considering a report which would include all the statements together with the priorities of providers for the forthcoming year.  This information would be used to inform the Work Programme for the Committee.

iv)       St Barnabas Hospice – Care Quality Commission Inspection

On 8 June 2016, the Care Quality Commission published its inspection report on St Barnabas Hospice's Specialist Palliative Care Unit in Lincoln.  The report concluded that the unit was rated as 'good' and that people were unanimously positive about the services received from St Barnabas Hospice and, without exception, the praise of the staff for their personalised and caring approach.  The CQC also found that people were the focus of, and at the heart of, the service and were central to the planning and review of their own care packages, including those people who were important to them.  Support for people's spiritual, cultural and emotional needs was an integral part of their care package.

The Committee agreed that this was a great achievement and well deserved.  A letter would be sent to Chris Wheway, Chief Executive of St Barnabas Hospice, giving formal congratulations on the result of the inspection.

v)         Lincolnshire Recovery Programme Update / Lincolnshire Sustainability Transformation Plan – Briefing Session

The Chairman explained that an item to discuss the progress of the Lincolnshire Recovery Programme had been on the work programme for consideration at this meeting but NHS England and NHS improvement had indicated that they would be unable to attend until the meeting in September.  The reason given was that they would be in a better position to provide an update once the Lincolnshire Sustainability Transformation Plan (STP) had been finalised at the end of June.

Eleven Members of the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire had attended the briefing session on the Lincolnshire Sustainability Transformation Plan on 18 May 2016.  The key message from that session was that there was a clear case for change in Lincolnshire, given that the predicted deficit across the Lincolnshire health system of £292 million by 2020, if no action taken, was not sustainable.  One of the outcomes from the session was that there would be pre-consultation engagement with the Committee in advance of the publication of the Lincolnshire Health and Care (LHAC) consultation expected later in the year.

Further explanation was given that the Lincolnshire Recovery Programme had been established to focus on the primary services across Lincolnshire including finance, quality, constitutional standards and workforce.  The Recovery Board was a separate process to the Sustainability Transformation Plan.  It was acknowledged that Lincolnshire was in a better position to develop its STP in accordance with national guidelines and deadlines.  It was suggested to the Committee that LHAC could be considered as the first year of the STP process. 

The Committee expressed disappointment that the item on the Lincolnshire Recovery Programme would not be considered at this meeting and it was agreed that the Chairman would write to request a formal update, which could be circulated to the Committee. The content of the reply would then determine if an update in September was appropriate or whether an invitation to the July meeting of the Committee be issued.

vi)       Adults Scrutiny Committee – Delayed Transfers of Care

The Adults Scrutiny Committee was the lead County Council overview and scrutiny committee for the Better Care Fund which supported the integration of health and social care.  One of the key targets within the Better Care Fund in 2016/17 was a reduction in delayed transfers of care.  Previously, the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire had requested that the Adults Scrutiny Committee look into delayed transfers of care.  The Chairman was pleased to report that an item had been provisionally planned for the Adults Scrutiny Committee's work programme for 6 September 2016, specifically on delayed transfers of care, and it was thought that this would also link with some work which Healthwatch was undertaking in relation to discharges.