Exec Board MeetingFriday, 7 October 2016
Healthwatch Sunderland (HWS) Executive Board
Minutes of Meeting held Friday, 7 October 2016
Stanfield Business Centre, Sunderland
Attendance – ExecutiveBoard Members
Kevin Morris / KM / ChairAnnabel Dawson / AD
Neil Evans / NE
Liz Highmore / LH
Janet King / JK
David Tate / DT
Attendance – Healthwatch Staff
Margaret Curtis / MC / Programme ManagerClare Render / CR / Administrator (Minute Taker)
Action
1 / Apologies & introductions
No apologies were received.
2 / Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a true record.
2.1 / Staffing update – letter of thanks and bouquet of flowers has been sent to Jemma on behalf of the HWS Board.
2.2 / Extra care enter and view – this will be discussed further as a separate item on the agenda.
2.3 / Annual event – report
- Mental health services – Margaret to contact Neil with regards to HWS linking with Sunderland University.
- Domiciliary care services – a letter has been sent as agreed. This will be discussed further under the work plan agenda item.
2.4 / CQC inspection protocol –the word ‘do’ is missing from the third line – “we aren’t able to do it”. / HWS Staff
2.5 / Data intelligence – letter to the local authority has been sent. This will be discussed further under the work plan agenda item.
2.6 / Safeguarding – all Board members have completed their online training. Only one volunteer hasn’t completed their safeguarding training but this is in hand.
Action
3 / Board / staffing / volunteer update
3.1 / Exec board – following Helen Clay’s continued absence from our Board meetings and in light of being unable to contact her, it was agreed to formally acknowledge that Helen is no longer a member of the HWS Exec Board. As Helen was our vice chair this means a new vice chair needs to be sought and after a discussion it was agreed that the role will be undertaken on an adhoc basis. / All to note
The Board wanted to pass on a letter of thanks to Helen but as we do not have any contact details for her it was agreed that Margaret contact Mental Health Matters to ascertain if it is possible to pass on a letter of thanks to Helen through them. / MC
We are interviewing a prospective new board member next week. An update will be given at the next meeting.
3.2 / Staffing – interviews have been held for the part-time engagement role but we were unable to appoint from the interviewees. The full-time engagement role advert has just closed. Shortlisting will be held on 10th October and the interviews will be held on 18/19 October. Annabel has agreed to be part of the interview panel.
3.3 / Volunteer update – we have a couple of new volunteers in the pipeline and are currently chasing up references. Anna Gillingham will be attending the Sunderland University’s Volunteering Fair on 21stOctober in order to try and acquire some student volunteers.
4 / Planning session for Q&A with Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) at next Board meeting
Carol Gaskarth, CEO of PCP will be attending the Board meeting in November. She will be giving an overview of PCP, where Healthwatch fits within that and financial matters will also be discussed.
Any questions for Carol to be passed to the HWS office. / Exec Board
5 / Community Interest Company (CIC) registration
The HWS staff withdrew from the meeting for this item as this was for discussion between Exec Board members only.
6 / Feedback from Boards
6.1 / Comms and Engagement Task and Finish Group – Margaret attended the last meeting. A copy of the event/meeting attended feedback form was handed to the group for their information.
Action
6.2 / Health & Wellbeing Board (HWBB) – Kevin gave an overview of the last HWBB meeting. The meeting included reports on smoking, alcohol, the priorities of the local authority and the changes that will be made to the JSNA.
6.3 / Sunderland Health Forum – Liz attended the Sunderland Health Forum. There were a number of speakers explaining the need for the alliance between CityHospitals Sunderland NHSFT and South Tyneside NHSFT. Discussions included the financial problems in South Tyneside and the potential problems that the transfer to Sunderland of the acute stroke service could cause to people in South Tyneside. The Forum speakers advised that follow-up stroke services will remain in both Sunderland and SouthTyneside wherever possible, and a consultation process will be arranged as things develop.
6.4 / Joint Scrutiny Committee – Kevin attended the Joint Scrutiny Committee meeting with SouthTyneside and Sunderland to talk about the alliance between CityHospitals Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trusts (known as the South Tyneside and Sunderland Healthcare Group).
KenBremner, ChiefExecutive of City Hospitals Sunderland NHSFT has been appointed Chief Executive of this group and SteveWilliamson, ChiefExecutive of South Tyneside NHSFT has been appointed Deputy.
There are significant issues around transport and the acute stroke service so the Board will keep an eye on these issues.
6.5 / Out of Hospital (OOH) Board – David updated the group on the last meeting he attended. Some GPs are still not operating the ‘patient phone in’ service. This is being followed up by the OOH Board. Palliative care was discussed and the possibility of putting this on the Vanguard programme.They are also trying to get someone to coordinate trips and falls. Also discussed was the amalgamation of the Out of Hospital Board and the Urgent Care Board.
6.6 / HWS representation at key meetings / groups – a copy of the list of key meetings/groups that a HWS representative attended was handed to the group for discussion.
- The Out of Hospital Board is being combined with the Urgent Care Board and we are waiting for confirmation of the meeting date to make sure it is still suitable for Annabel to represent us. Margaret to request a copy of the terms of reference for these groups.
Action
- New Horizons / Mental Health Programme Board / Service User & Carer Reference Group – the HWS rep at these meetings was HelenClay and as Helen is now no longer on the Exec Board this means that we do not have a representative who has a mental health background able to attend these meetings. After a discussion it was agreed that it would be beneficial if we could get someone with a mental health background to jointhe HWS Exec Board. Margaret to contact Mental Health Matters to find out if they have anyone who wishes to join our Board. As an interim measure Margaret to request that minutes of these meetings are sent to us and to obtain a copy of the terms of reference.
7 / Work plan update
Margaret updated the group on the current work plan.
7.1 / Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) – a copy of the update report was handed to the group. In summary everything is going according to plan. In terms of achievement there has been an increase in the number of PPGs. We are doing pieces of work around equalityand diversity and also trying to encourage the practices to create community groups.
7.2 / Mental health –a questionnaire has been produced and feedback is being sought.
7.3 / GP waiting times –a meeting has been arranged with the CCG so see how we can feed into the work they are doing.
7.4 / Domiciliary care - letters have been written to Fiona Brown from the local authority and the CQC; we haven’t received a response yet. The statutory Healthwatch twenty day response limit is currently being investigated by the HWS team with Healthwatch England to clarify what exactly the Healthwatch statutory powers are.
7.5 / CQC GP inspections –we have had a meeting with CQC this week. All GP services have been inspected therefore they do not need to do any follow up visits if everything has been in order for another five years.As a resultwe are at liberty to come up with our own schedule of review. We are also planning how we could get regular feedback from GP surgeries to enable us to tie it into our PPG work.
7.6 / Quality statements–the statements have been issued and feedback has been received from all of the staff and a couple of volunteers but only two Board members. We are unable to progress this until we get full feedback from the Board. Margaret to re-send to Board members. / MC
Action
7.7 / Community connectors – Anna Gillingham has signed up to be a community connector. The training starts in a couple of weeks. This is about getting more valuable research amongst the community.
7.8 / Eye Infirmary enter and view – this has now been completed and a report will be ready for the next Board meeting.
8 / Extra care enter and view
The final report was handed to the group for discussion. The Healthwatch twenty day response requirement from the local authority and care providers regarding what actions they intend to take following our recommendations has been included in the report. It will be sent via email on Monday and we will visit the local authority and the care home providers to support action planning as a result of the recommendations. We will also re-visit this in six months to understand what changes they have adopted.
9 / Data intelligence
A copy of the data collection pack for August was handed to the group for discussion.
- Service of the month certificate – this is a new system which will be brought to the Board every month for approval before it is issued and with the Board’s approval this month’s certificate will be sent to Fulwell Medical Centre. It is intended that someone will go out and present the certificate to Fulwell Medical Centre and pictures put in our newsletter.
- The Board requested that ‘bad treatment’ statements be explained more fully if possible.
- Cumulative data – the Board requested that the same list in the same order be used for both columns.
10 / Finance
There is no finance update this month. Next update is due at the quarter end and will be sent to the Board before the next meeting. / MC
11 / Safeguarding
Margaret reported that no safeguarding issues were raised in the last month.
Action
12 / Any other business
Janet briefed the group on an issue regarding a private company offering an alternative repeat prescription service to the people of Sunderland. Anyone signing up for this service will get their medication delivered to them via the postal service, through their letterboxes. This could take away the only contact a lot of elderly people may have with somebody they know who knows they are not looking very well or are not answering the door. This also may result in people’s medication being stolen or not delivered at all.
The leaflet looks very official and some people may think they have to sign up to this service.
After a discussion it was agreed to put something in our bulletin about this issue asking for people’s experiences. Kevin to also raise it with the Primary Care Commissioning Group. / HWS Staff KM
13 / Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be held:
Date: Friday, 4 November 2016
Time: 1.30:3.30pm
Venue: Stanfield Business Centre
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