Agenda and minutes

Items
No. Item

8.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Linda Curran and Sean Gibbons.

 

9.

Declarations of Interest, if any

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

10.

Minutes of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on the 30th September 2021 pdf icon PDF 280 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meetings held on the held on the 30th September 2021 were agreed as a true record.

 

11.

Public Statements

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for

Statements from up to 5 members of the public on

matters within the Panel’s remit, proposing action(s)

which may be considered or contribute towards the

future development of the Panel’s work programme].

 

Minutes:

There were no public statements made.

 

12.

Update from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals pdf icon PDF 184 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received a presentation from the Chief Officer of Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, which outlined the following areas;

 

·         Covid-19 Data

·         Safety, Care and Infection Control

·         Estates and Facilities

·         Procurement

·         Health and Wellbeing

·         Vaccination and Testing

·         Communications and Engagement

·         What comes next and bed surge?

·         Priorities for 2021/22

·         Activity Year-To-Date

·         Benchmarking

 

The Chair passed thanks for the work undertaken during the pandemic.

 

There was a discussion held and the following areas were highlighted;

 

Staff Welfare

 

Sickness Absent Rates - Concern was raised around the impact of increased sickness absence rates within the hospitals during winter and due to other pressures arising from the pandemic.  Members were assured that appropriate support measures had remained in place, such as counselling services and occupational health.  It was added that there were also standard levels of support such as helplines and contact through Vivup, an external provider and HR teams.  It was noted that in addition to absence levels affecting areas like the availability of beds, there was also quality of patient care to consider, all of which was staff dependent.   Recruitment was considered important with colleagues being recruited from overseas to reduce vacancy rates (there were currently more vacancies than students qualifying) and changing workforce profiles to allow more flexibility where appropriate.  Finally, Members were informed about what communication was taking place for staff to understand current pressures as well as what mechanisms were in place.  These involved  four times a day meetings around staff allocation on wards, a pool system for shift allocations, pay enhancements  for hourly rate for pool systems where allocated and use of agencies when needed.  It was explained that as a last resource, the hospitals would stop activities such as additional training and in some instances stop elective and planned care and procedures, to redeploy staff to try to ensure that areas were adequately and safely staffed. 

 

Staff Leave – Further clarification was sought regarding whether staff were taking their allocated leave (that had not been taken during the pandemic).  Members were informed that the Government had previously agreed that leave could be carried over a 2-year period to help manage staff pressures and that support was in place for staff to take it sooner.  It was added that monitoring indicated that the majority of staff were taking their leave entitlement.  It was also explained that there was a process in place to allow flexibility, where staff could sell their leave back to the hospital for a financial payment.

 

Staff Mental Health – Members reiterated that they were pleased to hear about what was currently in place and asked what further support was planned.  The Panel was informed that a great deal of impact had been seen on people’s mental health and therefore efforts had been made to ensure appropriate access to hospital services.  It was noted that over the next 3 years demand for mental health services was expected to increase across all elements of the system and therefore work was needed to be undertaken with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Health and Social Care: Covid and Winter Planning in Partnership pdf icon PDF 340 KB

Minutes:

The Panel received a presentation from the Deputy Director, Strategy and Delivery, NHS Doncaster CCG, and the Assistant Director of Adults, Health and Wellbeing.

 

The presentation covered the following areas;

 

·         Current Context

·         Other Demand Pressures

·         What Have We Done So Far?

·         Stress Testing the Plan

·         System Escalation

·         Investment

·         The Covid Vaccination Programme

·         Mandatory Vaccination Programme

·         Current Covid Staff Booster Vac Position

 

There was a discussion held and the following areas were highlighted;

 

Support/Care Package For Supporting Social Care Staff - It was explained that staff had a range of measures available that included occupational health and access to counselling services.  Members were informed that the main difference was that the workforce was spread across a range of providers and it was important to communicate effectively across them all to see how they was supporting their staff, making sure that they have access to support.  Members heard that regular meetings had been set up with providers to discuss with them direct any concerns that they have about their workforce, any support the Council can provide or what other support was needed.  It was continued that £3M had been invested into the sector to try and ensure that the workforce was as robust as possible, and efforts were being made to raise the profile of social care using the Council’s and NHS communications mechanisms.  It was considered that it was about how we ensure the workforce is looked after, with a hope that providers set incentives, apply the national living wage, offer childcare vouchers and support working mums.

 

Catch Up Work/Waiting times

 

Waiting Times For The Provision Of Assessments -  It was explained that this would fluctuate according to need and across all assessments with the current average number of working days for an assessment at 59.48 (from start of the assessment all the way through).  It was acknowledged that this would be based on what the level of need and the complexity was.  It was recognised that there had been an increase in demand and consideration was being given as to how this figure could be reduced.

 

Financial Assessment – Concern was raised regarding how many individuals were waiting to undertake a financial assessment in relation to the costs of their care, the time it was taking to complete this and the number of assessments in progress.  Members were informed that there was 371 assessments, with the longest waiting referral dating back to 1st October 2021, 39 referrals booked in for next week (face-to-face support with financial assessments) and 50–60 requests for financial assessments were made per week.  It was explained that as a result of the pandemic there was now a backlog and additional capacity was being brought in to address that.  Members heard how consideration was being given in seeking to implement a local digital solution known as ‘Looking Local’, which was an online assessment form that families, individuals or staff could do which would reduce that backlog down even further. 

 

Bed Capacity/Care Capacity

 

Concern was raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 205 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Governance Officer presented the Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan report for the 2021/2022 municipal year.

 

RESOLVED that:-

 

1.     The updated Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan for 2021/2022 be noted and to include mental health andaccessible housing;  and

2.     That the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions be noted.