Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Duerden and Diane Blair (Healthwatch).

Members are requested at a meeting where a disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest arises, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests, todeclare any interests that relate to an item on the agenda.

Where a Member discloses a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, he/she must withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest, except where he/she is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of a dispensation.

Where a Member discloses a personal interest he/she must seek advice from the Monitoring Officer or staff member representing the Monitoring Officer to determine whether the Member should withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest or whether the Member can remain in the meeting or remain in the meeting and vote on the relevant decision.

In accordance with Paragraph 9 of the Council’s Code of Conduct, the following declaration of personal interest was made and the Member concerned remained in the room during the consideration of the item:

Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2024, be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive a presentation of the Programme Director, Shaping Care Together, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital

The Committee received a presentation by the Programme Director, Shaping Care Together, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust.

The presentation provided some background information on the “Shaping Care Together” Programme and informed the Committee about the Urgent and Emergency Care Phase, in particular that the Case for Change for this phase was published on 26^th July.

Rob Cooper, Managing Director, Mersey and West Lancashire Hospital Trust was in attendance to present the information and to respond to any questions from members of the committee.

Members of the committee asked questions/commented on the following:

·       If the reasons for services being fragile had been identified.

·       What would “better urgent care closer to home” look like in Southport

·       The timescale for the proposals for change to be finalised.

·       If a public engagement meeting for Southport would be arranged

·       Whether the Committee would receive further information on the feedback received from the public meetings being held in September and October.

RESOLVED: That

(1)           the presentation be noted

(2)           the Committee receives a further presentation or report containing details of the feedback received from members of the public following the public engagement meetings being held in September and October.

(3)           a further report be brought to the Committee in early 2025, to present the proposed changes to Urgent and Emergency Care and to enable to Committee to decide if the changes are a substantial variation in service.

(4)           the Committee noted that a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee would need to be formed between Sefton MBC and Lancashire County Council if both Authorities consider the proposals to be a substantial variation in service.

Report of the Sefton Place Director, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside

The Committee considered the report of the Sefton Place Director, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, that provided an update about the work of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, Sefton. The report outlined details of the following:

·       Southport major incident recovery

·       Closure of Lincoln House GP Surgery

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:

·       How patients who miss communications about the Lincoln House Surgery closure will be reached.

·       If patients would have a choice as to which GP Surgery they were moved to.

·       The importance of listening to comments from patients, even though the closure has been confirmed.

·       The scale of the response to the Southport incident and how many people were receiving ongoing support.

·       The work being done in schools to support pupils affected by the incident.

RESOLVED: That

(1)          the update report submitted by the Sefton Place Director, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside (Sefton) be noted;

(2)          a further report on Lincoln House surgery be submitted to the next meeting;

(3)          further information be circulated to the Committee on the ratio of patients to permanent GP’s in Southport; and

(4)          a further report be submitted to the Committee regarding the Southport incident response, to include further information on the work being carried out with Schools.

Report of the Sefton Place Director, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside

The Committee considered the report of the Sefton Place Director, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, that provided data on key performance areas for North and South Sefton.

Following the queries raised at the previous meeting regarding the North West Ambulance data, the Committee noted that a representative from North West Ambulance Service would be attending the next meeting to present a report.

RESOLVED:

That the information on Health Provider Performance be noted.

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Social Care and Health.

The Committee received a presentation by the Assistant Director, Adult Social Care and Health, that provided an update on the preparations for Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assessment. The presentation provided information about:

·       The themes the CQC assessed local authorities against

·       The notification of assessment for Sefton, received on 24 June 2024

·       The CQC would use an anonymised list of 50 cases to gather the lived experiences of people using adult social care.

·       Comments gathered during the self-assessment exercise

·       Areas of strength noted from the self assessment exercise

·       Areas of focus for the next six months.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:

·       Who made the final decision on an individual requiring residential care

·       Strategies used to identify individuals on ‘the edge of care’

·       Data on people who returned to hospital or long term care after being sent home

·       Intermediate Care and how this was provided.

RESOLVED: That

(1)          the update be noted

(2)          further data be reported to a future meeting on people returning to care.

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer submitting the most recent update reports from the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care, and the Cabinet Member – Health and Wellbeing, whose portfolios fell within the remit of the Committee.

The Cabinet Member update report – Adult Social Care, attached to the report at Appendix A, outlined information on the following:

• Southport Incident  - Social Work Response
• The Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance Update for Adult Social Care
• Strategic Commissioning
• Domicillary Care
• Sefton New Directions
• Care Homes
• 2025/26 Fee Setting
• Carers Strategy
• Falls Strategy
• Quality Assurance
• Adult Social Care Budget
• Adult Social Care Complaints, Compliments and MP Enquiries
• Quality and Practice
• Performance and Key Areas of Focus
• Admission in to care and reablement
• Self-directed support and direct payments
• Employment
• Housing

The Cabinet Member update report – Health and Wellbeing, attached to the report at Appendix B, outlined information on the following:

• Public Health Risk Register
• Harmful Gambling Charter Mark
• Suicide Audit
• Leisure Update
• Leisure Risk register
• Active Ageing - Falls Prevention

Councillor Doyle, Cabinet Member – Public Health and Wellbeing was in attendance to respond to any [DC1] questions/comments by Members of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member update reports be noted.

Report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer that sought to:

• Invite the views of the Committee on the Work Programme for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2024/25;
• identify any items for pre-scrutiny by the Committee from the Key Decision Forward Plan;
• invite Committee Members to participate in informal briefing sessions during 2024/25;
• invite the views of the Committee on the draft Programme of informal briefings/workshop sessions for 2024/25;
• consider if there were any site visits that Committee Members would wish to undertake during 2024/25;
• receive an update on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and
• receive an update on the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System Joint Health Scrutiny Committee.[DC1] 

RESOLVED  That

(1)          the [DC2] Work Programme for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be noted, along with any additional items to be included and thereon be agreed;

(2)           the contents of the Key Decision Forward Plan for the period 1 September to 31 December 2024 be noted;

(3)          all Members of the Committee be invited to participate in informal briefing sessions;

(4)          the[DC3]  Programme of informal briefings/workshop sessions for 2024/25, as set out at Appendix B to the report, be noted;

(5)          the following site visits for Committee Members be arranged to take place during 2024/25:

·       Visit to Southport Hospital

·       Visit to Aintree Hospital or Royal Liverpool Hospital

(6)           the update on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted; and

(7)          the update on the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System Joint Health Scrutiny Committee be noted.