Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest from any councillor on any item on this agenda.

None.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Monday 6 September 2021.

Councillor Webster requested an amendment to the draft minutes (minute 18) of the meeting held on Monday 6 September 2021, to include her request to be appointed a Domestic Abuse Champion, which members agreed. Thus, the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 6 September 2021 was confirmed as correct record with the inclusion of the following sentence:

Councillor Webster expressed her interest in taking up the role as one of the councillor Domestic Abuse Champions.

Dr Neil Hartley Smith, Executive Clinical Director, and Beth Goodman, Deputy Director of Commissioning, will make a presentation. There will be an opportunity for committee members to comment and ask questions.

Dr Hartley-Smith, Executive Clinical Director and Beth Goodman, Deputy Director of Commissioning attended the meeting for this item. They provided the committee with a PowerPoint presentation to update the committee on NHS priorities and system reform.

Beth Goodman explained to members the areas that Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Fylde, and Wyre CCG cover. She added that the commissioning group had recently taken over some additional practices in Garstang and Great Eccleston.

Beth Goodman summarised the NHS operational planning guidance and priorities for 2021/2022 and identified six areas of priority:

-       Supporting the health and wellbeing of staff and taking action on recruitment and retention

-       Delivering the NHS COVID-19  vaccination programme and continuing to meet the needs of patients with COVID-19

-       Transforming the delivery of services, accelerating the restoration of elective and cancer care and managing the increasing demand on mental health services

-       Expanding primary care capacity to improve access, local health outcomes and address health inequalities

-       Transforming community and urgent and emergency care (UEC) to prevent inappropriate attendance at emergency departments (EDs), improve timely admission to hospital for ED patients and reduce length of stay

-       Working collaboratively across systems to deliver on these priorities

She highlighted to members the importance of the front line staff and back-office staff wellbeing, especially following events of the Covid-19 pandemic and difficulty with recruitment and retention on the Fylde Coast. She also praised the Fylde Coast for the successful rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme. She explained to members that the overall theme of this presentation was about collaborative working with local partners and integrated care system partners.

Beth Goodman explained to members the NHS reform proposed by the Government White Paper in February 2021. This outlined how the NHS in England needed to change to enable health and care to work more closely together. She also described the proposed changes to system and place following the White Paper. The NHS, local authorities and other partners had come together legally as part of statutory Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to plan health and care services and focus on prevention. The current functions of CCGs had moved into a new NHS organisation at Lancashire and South Cumbria level.

In answer to several questions by members, Dr Hartley-Smith explained that the move to an Integrated Care System would require no changes to staffing. He reassured members that the reforms would still include delegated power passed down to place-based partnerships.

A question was asked about who the newly reformed system would be accountable to, which Dr Hartley-Smith explained that they are accountable to NHS England overall, however, Beth Goodman stated that next time they update the committee they should have the governance framework for the ICS to share.

In addition, Dr Hartley-Smith reassured members that the NHS remained free at the point of use for all residents of the UK.

In response to a question, Dr Hartley-Smith explained to members that the reorganisation would allow them to make savings as it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Councillor Julie Robinson, Wyre Council’s representative on Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, will present a report about the business undertaken by the committee over the past twelve months.

Councillor Julie Robinson, Wyre Council’s representative on Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, submitted a report to advise the committee about the work of Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee during the municipal year 2020/21.

Unfortunately, Councillor Robinson was unable to attend the meeting.

The Chairman introduced the report and asked for members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee if they have any questions or suggestions of possible topics they would like Councillor Robinson to bring to the Health Scrutiny Committee. They could do this by contacting Councillor Julie Robinson directly or through Marianne Unwin, Democratic Services Officer.

Members agreed that their concerns over the lack of monetary contributions from housing developers, especially regarding large developments, to the NHS and local medical practices, be passed on to Councillor Robinson, where she could hopefully put this to the committee.

It was agreedthat the report be noted.

The Corporate Director Resources, Clare James, has submitted a report updating the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2021/22. Marianne Unwin, Democratic Services Officer, will introduce the report and respond to questions and comments from councillors.

The Corporate Director Resources, Clare James, submitted a report to update the committee about the delivery of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2021/22.

The Democratic Services Officer, Marianne Unwin, provided the committee with a verbal update.

Elected Member Peter Le Marinel updated members that the recent Tourism Recovery in Wyre task group had identified an additional area of possible review. He was keen for the members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to commission a future task group to review the business model for the council-run theatres and other facilities. The Chairman echoed this request, and it was agreed by members that at the next meeting they would be presented with a draft-scoping document.

A potential review of caravan holiday site occupancy and residential status was also discussed. Members asked Marianne Unwin to speak to relevant officers to find out the scale of the issue.

Members additionally discussed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the borough and suggested that a possible future review of what the council has learned and the changes that have resulted from Covid-19. The Chairman explained that society was still dealing with Covid-19 and felt that this was a maybe topic to look at in the future.