Agenda item

Report of the Acting Chief Executive, NHS Sefton.

The Committee considered the report of the Acting Chief Executive, NHS Sefton, on current issues impacting on healthcare provision within Sefton. Information was provided on the following:-

A.        Welcome Back Paul

The Chair of NHS Sefton, Paul Acres, had been away since August 2010 due to ill health but had returned to duty at the commencement of 2011. Frances Street had carried out the role of Interim Chair in Paul’s absence and NHS Sefton was grateful for her hard work and commitment during that time. Frances had now been appointed Chairman of the new Community Health Trust in Wirral.

B.        Update on NHS Reforms

Following on from the White Paper for Health, “Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS”, key documents had been published at the end of 2010, paving the way for the reforms outlined.

The public consultation on the White Paper had produced some 6,000 responses and the Government had now produced its response to this consultation, including the extension of local authorities’ formal scrutiny powers to cover all NHS funded services, and giving them greater freedom in how these were exercised. GP consortia were now expected to be the commissioners of maternity services, rather than the NHS Commissioning Board, as the Government had originally intended.

The Operating Framework 2011-2012, had been published, setting out key actions to support NHS organisations during the transitional period. Detailed timescales for the transition were now provided, including the ‘clustering’ of primary care trusts by June 2011 and greater support for emerging GP consortia to ensure they were ready to take over their responsibilities in April 2013.

The first Outcomes Framework for the NHS had also been published, setting out 50 indicators in five key domains around patient safety and clinical quality.

C.        Have Your Say on NHS Reforms

A number of consultations associated with the planned reforms were currently taking place. Consultation documents could be viewed via the NHS Sefton web-site and views could be e-mailed to the same website prior to the following deadlines:-

• White paper for public health, ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’ – deadline 8^th March 2011;
• Public health outcomes framework – deadline 31^st March 2011;
• Funding and commissioning routes for Public Health – deadline 31^st March 2011; and
• Developing the NHS workforce – 31^st March 2011.

D.        Coping with Winter Pressures on the NHS

NHS organisations across the north west region had been working together to manage the additional pressures on health services caused by the colder weather and extended holiday period, during the winter months. People were being reminded to choose the right service for them when they were ill, whether it was free advice on minor illnesses from pharmacists, contact with NHS Direct, Accident and Emergency, 999 emergency telephone calls and GP teams.

E.        Are You Protected against Seasonal Flu?

Flu could be extremely serious for those with conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart disease, those over 65 years and pregnant women. There was still time for eligible Sefton residents to protect against seasonal flu by having their annual vaccination at their GP’s surgery.

Anjila Shah, Consultant in Public Health, reported on the number of uptakes for vaccination and the lack of formal complaints of lack of vaccine, and also commented on vaccination of under 5 year olds.

F.         Preventing Winter Illnesses

Basic precautions could be taken to help prevent illnesses such as colds, flu, and the winter vomiting illness, norovirus. Good hand hygiene was essential, and the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ campaign helped to prevent germs spreading.

G.        New Year, New You

The Healthy Sefton service was running a number of free weight management courses throughout the Borough. NHS Sefton’s stop smoking service SUPPORT could assist people wanting to stop smoking. Other services offered included Active Sefton, alcohol advice, lifestyle checks, Chlamydia screening and a range of wellbeing support.

H.        Changes to Looking Local on Sky

NHS Sefton was the first primary care trust to have a Looking Local site after looking at how many other councils used it to provide information to the thousands of people who did not have internet at home. Sky subscribers could access the ‘Looking Local’ health TV service on channel 539. Users could book appointments at some local GP practices, find out about health conditions and view pages from Transport Direct, Job-Centre Plus, NHS Choices and Sefton’s Family Information Directory.

I.          Meet the NHS Sefton Board

The NHS Sefton Board and Executive Team held bi-monthly stakeholder lunch events that provided an opportunity to hear about the latest developments across NHS Sefton and allowed attendees to pose questions and queries about local health services.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       NHS Sefton be thanked for the report; and

(2)       NHS Sefton’s actions against recommendations and proposals contained in the report, and reported verbally at the meeting, be monitored as appropriate.