Western Local Advisory Committee
Notes of the Second Meeting of the Local Advisory Committee
held on 21st April 2010 at 2.00pm in Conference Room, Hilltop
Present:Louise Skelly(Chair), Maureen Andrew, John Cunningham, Caroline Kelly,
In Attendance:Maureen Gormley, Cindy McManus, Kitty Loughran
Apologies:Kathleen Adams, Margaret Harte, David McKee, Noel McKenna, Elly Omondi Odhiambo
The Chair welcomed everyone to the second meeting of the Local Advisory Committee.
Ms Kelly asked that the previous notes were amended to read that she wished to see the Priorities for Action (PfA) report and think about it before forwarding issues.
Mrs Andrew reported that the Chemotherapy Outreach Clinic at the TyroneCountyHospital had commenced on 19th March. She expressed a concern that £20 million will be coming out of the budget this year.
Mrs Andrew said she had a concern about maternity services because the commissioning group were going back to old Trust boundaries.
The Chair informed members that a report by RQIA on Maternity Services was with the Department and the publishing of that was imminent.
1.Corporate Objectives 2010/11
The Chair gave an overview of the PCC Objectives for 2010/11 on:
~ Finding out and communicating what people want from health and social care services
~ Establishing the Patient and Client Council as an influential and independent organisation
~ Leading the development of an advocacy framework in health and social care
~ Establishing an organisation that is fit for purpose and value for money
Priorities for Action (PfA)
The Chair reported that the PCC hoped to have 3 or 4 recommendations included in the Department’s PfAreport.
Ms Kelly asked that LAC members be informed whenever the Department publishes the PfA 2010report.
Mr Cunninghamstated that the Department should have a procedure that the PfA document is published at the same time every year. He said they should be pressed to get the 2010 document published.
The Chair said the Health Minister will be meeting with the PCC Board in May when he will feedback on the PfA report. She added that the Minister will also feedback on funding issues in the Health Service.
The Chair said the PCC would start in September to develop Priorities for Action for next year.
APLet LAC Members know when the Department’s PfA 2010 report is published.
APSend copy of PCC PfA report to LAC members.
Current Work:
The Chair gave a brief overview of current work:
The Chair said that the PCC had appointed a Project Manager for Bamford who will report on the work of the Bamford Monitoring Group to the PCC Board on a quarterly basis.
The PCC did a piece of work on the Young Life and Times survey to ask 16 year olds a range of questions on emotional and mental health and their attitudes towards, and experiences of mental health services. The launch event for the Young Life and Times survey results will take place on 26th April 2010. LAC members were invited to attend. A copy of the results will be provided to LAC members.
APProvide copy of the Young Life and Times survey results to members.
The Chair reported that work is ongoing on theResettlement Programme. The Project Manager for Bamford sits on the Resettlement Group
The Chair said there was a separate operational plan for Bamford and a number of key objectives would be identified. They would look at the Bamford Action Plan and work backwards and see the difference on the ground.
The Chair reported that following a number of meetings with the public by visiting supermarkets; libraries etc. a range of people had fed into the Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy outlining the patient and public perspective on issues concerning end of life care in NI.. She said the wide range of people who fed into the strategy would have an impact on the final report. The report is available on the PCC Website.
The Chair reported that every Dental surgery in NI had been surveyed on what access there was for NHS patients. She said £35 million had been invested on dental services by the Department. She said another project on patient experiences will be undertaken and added that this would need to be carried out once every 2 years.
APA copy of the report to be sent to LAC members.
The Chair said the PCC would be supporting the development of a regionalQuality Strategy around what the general public think quality means e.g. what is good? She said the PCC would run a major project looking at different ways of doing things and what peoples perspectives and concerns were.
The Chair reported the PCC would have a stand at a number of Agricultural Shows around the Province i.e. Balmoral; Omagh; ClogherValley and Castlewellan.
Mr Cunningham asked if there would be a stand at the Enniskillen Show.
APThe Area Manager and Personal and Public Involvement Officer will check out dates for the Enniskillen Show with a view to attending.
The Chair reported on meetings she had with the District Councils in the Western Area which were very positive. She said she was invited by the Omagh District Council to come back to talk about a rurality project in Fermanagh and Tyrone. She said it would run for a year and then they would feedback to the Department; Local Commissioning Groups and Public Health Agency on what the issues were.
The Chair said the PCC would take advice from the Local Advisory Committee on this.
Members made the Chair aware of a number of groups in the Western Area who could be consulted with.
Ms Kelly said there was a community network in Cookstown that had a good methodology for attracting people. The Chair said that PCC Officers had met with the Chief Executive in Cookstown.
Mr Cunningham referred to a Fermanagh/Leitrim Men’s Group.
Mrs Andrew said there was a group in Omagh called PROBUS for retired business men.
Mr Cunningham asked for contact details for the Fermanagh Rural Community Network.
APProvide Mr Cunningham with contact details for Fermanagh Rural Community Network.
The Chair said the Local Advisory Committees would be reviewed next year.
The Chair reported on the establishment of a regional network on advocacy and said she sat on this group. She said there was new legislation on Mental Health and Capacity. The PCC Chief Executive is taking a lead on this.
Ms Kelly said there was a need for independence.
The Chair reported that the PCC were developing advocacy work around prisoners.She said there were a number of people with rare conditions. She said there was a need to develop a network around rarer long term conditions. The PCC Belfast Area Manager is leading on this.
The Chair asked that LAC members would advise re numbers of people in their area in the more hard to reach groups.
The Chair said the PCC were looking at advocacy in independent residential and nursing homes.
Mr Cunningham pointed out that RQIA were doing the same job on advocacy and thereforeshould be given equal weight. He said there should be a regulation to produce quality and make sure it is right.
The Chair said the PCC needed to work alongside RQIA on how they do inspections.
The Chair will take this issue to a forthcoming meeting of the PCC Chief Executive and the RQIA Chief Executive.
APChair to put advocacy on agenda for meeting with PCC and RQIA.
Ms Kelly said issues around domiciliary care/community care was a failure to comply with standards.
Mrs Andrew asked what the standard of training was for carers.
The Chair said the RQIA can only inspect the offices of the providers.
Ms Kelly said she was involved in carer support meetings with the Trust who had a responsibility for monitoring agencies and key workers. She said there was a lack of honesty, candidacy and governance. The role of a Social Worker she said is to be an advocate for the Carer.
2.Roadshows
The Patient and Client Council are hosting a series of Road shows throughout Northern Ireland to give service users the opportunity to meet with key providers and commissioners of Health and Social Care services in Northern Ireland.
The evening will be an interactive event which will be hosted by Lynda Bryans and will be an opportunity for health care organisations to engage directly with the public across Northern Ireland.
Part of the evening will be a panel discussion where members of the Public will be able to ask questions of the providers and commissioners of Health Care.
Members were provided with details of the forthcoming roadshows as outlined below.
Location / Venue / Date / TimeBelfast / Group Space – Ulster Hall / 27 May 2010 / 7.30pm
Bangor / Signal Centre – Suite 2 / 2 June 2010 / 7.30pm
Armagh / Market Place / 10 June 2010 / 7.30pm
Ballymena / The Braid / 17 June 2010 / 7.30pm
Derry/Londonderry / Millennium Forum Studio Theatre / 24 June 2010 / 7.30pm
3.Membership Scheme
The Chair gave a presentation on proposals for a Membership Scheme to underpin the work of the Patient and Client Council. This will involve everyone who resides in NI; anyone who receives health and social care in NI; groups, voluntary and community sector.
A lengthy discussion took place following the presentation. Mrs Andrew said that the majority ofvisits to surgeries aremostly by women and children. She said men would rather travel to Belfastfor services such as GUM, rather than to local surgeries for reasons of anonymity. She made reference to a text scheme where you can be contacted by text prior to an appointment in order to ensure that the appointment is not missed. She said men do not use this service either because they wish to remain anonymous.
4.Rural Voices Scheme
Members were provided with a draft questionnaire and proposed a number ofamendments to it.
5.Members Information
Members were asked to say if they wished to receive communication via e mail or by hard copy in the post. Mrs Andrew indicated she wished to receive communication by hard copy at present and will inform the local office when her e mail system is back on. Mr Cunningham indicated he would like to receive documents larger than 1MB by hard copy.
6.Star Wards
In the absence of Mr McKenna who was to do a short presentation on Star Wards ( a campaign to improve therapeutic relationships in Psychiatric and LearningDisabilityHospitals in the UK) the Area Manager informed members of the website details in order for them to access further information on the subject. Website:
7.Venues/times of future meetings
Mr Cunningham suggested that the next meeting could be held on Wednesday 24th June 2010 at a venue in Derry prior to the PCC Roadshow.
8.Any other business
Members raised a number of issues
Ms Kelly asked that a link to the SCIE Website would be added to the PCC Website.
APLink to SCIE Website to be added to PCC Website.
The Chair said she would be attending a meeting on Friday dealing with the Website and would add this to the agenda. She said they would be discussing service user input on the design for the Website. She also raised an issue on how the PCC could use software for the Blind.
APMs Kelly to be involved in this work.
Mr Cunningham raised an issue on GPs working with Charity Groups. He felt Charity Groups were not valued. He said the Health Service should be run more efficiently, at less cost and make full use of resources available.
Ms Andrew commented that Consultants are under severe pressure to see too many patients in order to reach targets.
Ms Kelly said GPs should be encouraged to be proactive with organisations.
Ms Kelly said SCIE promoted service users in training.
The Chair suggested that NIMDTA GP Training Unit may be of help.
The Chair will feedback to the PCC Chief Executive on this issue.
APChair to discuss GPs working with Charity Groups with Chief Executive.
A lengthy discussion took place around issues relating to admin processes when organising clinics e.g. reference number mix ups; lack of transfer of test results.
Ms Kelly said she had to wait 3 months to get a description of the restructuring of Adult Disability Services. She said there is no understanding of who is complying with standards.
Mrs Andrew raised concerns about the cutbacks in the Autism Services.
The Chair reported to members that a patient representative would be on the PCC Roadshow Panel. Mr Cunningham was asked to sit on the Panel in the Western Area.
He agreed to do this.
The Area Manager made Members aware of a meeting on NI Emergency Care Summary Communications to be held on 4th May in Lurgan. The project entails a summary of patient info (name, address, gender, age, current and recent medication, any known allergies) to be made available to GP OoHs or A&E to promote safe, quality care. It is linked to the Electronic Care Record (ECR) which will centralise info such as X-rays, hospital appointments, etc.
APInvite to be sent to LAC members.
Mr Cunningham asked for a contact name regarding Health and Care Numbers.
AP Provide Mr Cunningham with details of contact in ErneHospital who deals with Health and Care Numbers also provide contact for Developing Better Services Department.
Ms Kelly said she was currently working on issues around Older Persons Programme; Children with Special Needs and Adult Disability.
The Chair said herself and the Area Manager would arrange to meet with Ms Kelly to discuss the issues in more detail when she was next in the West.
APArrange meeting with Ms Kelly.
Ms Kelly said she would gave a briefing to the Chair as she wished to compare and share Carer’s Strategy and other areas.
Ms Kelly pointed out that other Trusts had made much better progress on Personal and Public Involvement than the Western Trust.
APMs Kelly to provide document to Chair.
It was agreed that the Priorities for Action; Dental; Palliative and End of Life Strategy; Advocacy; Bamford and Rural Voices reports would be put on the PCC Website.
Mortuary Services:
The Area Manager shared a response from the Coroner’s Office following a concern raised at the previous Local Advisory Committee meeting as to why the mortuary facility in Omagh should no longer be used for the storage and identification of deceased people under the control of the Coroner.
The response stated that the Coroner becomes involved with deaths that occur in sudden, suspicious or unexpected circumstances. These deaths require particular care as they will frequently end in court proceedings of one type or another. Once a death has been reported to the Coroner no one may interfere with the deceased’s body without the Coroner’s permission and remains under the Coroner’s control. In such circumstances it is vital that the integrity of the body is maintained so as to meet the Coroner’s statutory duties and to ensure that matters of forensic or evidential importance are not compromised.
Mrs Andrew raised a concern that if a death occurs at a weekend the Out of Hours Doctor would not be the deceased person’s own GP. She said there was an issue around communication failure which leads to distress for those concerned.
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