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Contact: Lynn Derbyshire on 0151 471 7389 or e-mail lynn.derbyshire@halton.gov.uk
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Minutes Minutes: |
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Public Question Time PDF 27 KB Minutes: |
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Executive Board Minutes PDF 15 KB Additional documents: Minutes: |
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Additional documents: Minutes: |
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(Councillor Martha Lloyd-Jones declared a Personal Interest in the following item due to her husband being a Non Executive Director of Halton & St Helens Primary Care Trust). |
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Presentation: Consultation on the service redesign of Dental Services PDF 16 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Board received a presentation from Mr Alan Rice - Operational
Director for Primary and Community Care, Mrs Sheila McHale - Senior Dental
Commissioning Manager and Professor Keith Milsom -
Consultant in Dental Public Health which informed Members of a proposal to
redesign dental services in Halton and The Board was advised that Halton and St Helens NHS were seeking to redesign
existing services to meet the needs of the local population while at the same
time providing better value for money. The
presentation:- ·
Outlined
the background to the proposal; ·
Explained
Dental Access Centres (DACS); ·
Set out
the benefits of a new model of dental care and when the proposed change would happen; ·
Detailed
the review of the Out of Hours Service, the consultation with current
providers, the proposed single alternative model for the PCT and the secured
agreement for change from the PCT; ·
Explained
that the proposal was to harmonise the services across the PCT, having a single
contact number for people to access the service, a telephone advice dentist
service 7 evenings a week and a face to face clinical provision at weekends and
bank holidays; ·
Set out
the proposed changes to the current Out of Hours dental service; and ·
Explained
the child only contracts in respect of NHS child only
- contracts value £50k that were associated with private practice, that National guidance was
to stand down these contracts, that a negotiated agreement with both providers
would be decommissioned from 31.3.2011, that alternative provision would be
available and relevant stakeholder engagement would be undertaken. Following queries from the Members, it was confirmed that
with regards to publicity, there was a communications strategy being produced
at present and that posters, flyers etc would be distributed to raise
awareness. It was agreed that there was
a wrong perception of the availability of dentists in Halton and that this
would need to be overcome, hopefully through the communications strategy. The presenters confirmed that once the DAC’s
had been closed, patients’ calls would be diverted to the new facilities. It was hoped that the new dental contract
would encourage new patients to visit the dentist and that there would be an
improvement on the current figure of 62% who visit presently. The presenters agreed to share the details of
dentists who were currently accepting new patients with Members so that they
could advise their constituents.
Members requested an update be provided in a year’s time to hear the
progress of the new facilities. RESOLVED: That 1)
The
presentation and comments made be noted; and 2) The speakers be thanked for their informative presentation and be invited to return in a years time with an update of the service. |
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Joint Carers Commissioning Strategy 2009/12 PDF 27 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Board considered a report of the
Strategic Director, Adults and Community which presented
the Joint Carers Commissioning Strategy 2009/12 which had recently been updated
/ refreshed. The Board was advised that the initial
Commissioning Strategy had been presented to the Board in September 2009. The
attached version had been updated and included outcomes and results from
targets set within the Strategy’s original action plan and set out the
achievements over the last 12 months. The Board was further advised that the main
objectives of the Strategy were to continue to develop a process for the joint
commissioning of services across Halton and to continue to assist in the
identification of hidden carers and improve information and access to support
services. It was reported that a balance would need to be maintained between
commissioning and the work that continued to take place in supporting voluntary
sector organisations e.g. Parkinson’s Society, Connect etc to develop their
services. In addition, some support and information had already been offered to
the third sector, in order that they could prepare appropriately for the
anticipated changes with funding streams, to encourage and advise them to
access alternative support, draft funding bids and collate evidence to
demonstrate service need. It was also reported that the LIT Sub Groups and
the multi agency Carers Strategy Group would continue to undertake the
monitoring of the implementation of the Commissioning Strategy and associated
action plan for the immediate future. Members congratulated those involved
in the preparation of the strategy which was well received. It was noted that the Carers Grant funding
was only available until the end of March 2011 and that future funding would
need to be considered, once the implications of the Comprehensive Spending
Review were known. RESOLVED: That the report and comments made be
noted. |
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Halton & St. Helens Social Services Emergency Duty Team Review PDF 87 KB Minutes: The Board considered a report of the
Strategic Director – Adults and Community which gave Members an update on the
performance and delivery of the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) service across The Board was advised that following approval by both St Helens and
Halton Executive Boards, a joint Emergency Duty Team had become operational in
October 2007 under a three year Partnership Arrangement. The EDT provided an
emergency social care service for adults and children who were deemed
vulnerable and are at immediate risk or required immediate statutory support.
The EDT was based in Halton Borough Council’s Contact Centre at Catalyst House,
The Board was also advised that under the terms of the Partnership
Agreement, all staff were directly employed by St Helens Council, whilst all infrastructure for the service was supplied by Halton
Borough Council. It was reported that the budget for 2010/11 for the service was £424,072
which comprised of the following contributions:- -
Halton
Borough Council £210,786; -
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St
Helens Homeless Service £ 10,500; and -
Halton
Homeless Service £ 10,500 In addition, the Board was advised of the Governance and Partnership
Agreement and key operational issues in respect of staffing and the impact on the
budget during sickness and absence, IT systems and procedures, publicity and
information, and the importance of the location of the service. In conclusion, it was reported that the service
provided an emergency service to the most vulnerable people in both Boroughs.
The service could only provide emergency cover but without the service some
people would be at a high risk. It was therefore not an option for either
Council not to have in place an arrangement for out of hours social work
provision. Councillor Dennett requested that a copy of this report be shared
with the Children and Young Peoples’ Board. RESOLVED: That the report and comments made be noted. |
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(Councillor Martha Lloyd-Jones declared a Personal Interest in the following item due to her husband being a Non Executive Director of Halton & St Helens Primary Care Trust). |
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Integrated Hospital Discharge Teams PDF 33 KB Minutes: The
Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Adults and Community which
informed Members of the outcomes of the project to develop and implement
Integrated Hospital Discharge Teams across both The Board was advised that most people spend a very short period of
their lives in hospital; their discharge followed a fairly predictable pattern
and they usually returned home. For those people already in the care system, or
for those who would need ongoing support when they leave hospital, discharge
processes should ensure continuity of the right care in the right place the
first time. However, it was highlighted
that achieving a safe and timely discharge from hospital was a complex
activity. The pressure to discharge or transfer patients and release beds,
together with a trend towards shorter lengths of stay, meant that there was
less time for assessment and discharge or transfer planning. Effective discharge and transfer planning was
essential. The Board was further advised that a couple of areas of concern had been
highlighted in relation to the safe and timely discharge of patients from both
of our acute hospitals. Therefore a
project group had been established, in 2009, across the wider partnership,
including Halton Council, Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust (“WHHFT”), Whiston Hospital, NHS Halton &
St Helens, NHS Warrington, St Helens Council and Warrington Council, Knowsley Council and Knowsley
PCT. The group, had been asked to review the current
systems and processes in relation to Hospital discharges with the overall aim
of identifying ways to ensure safe, timely and high quality discharges of
patients with complex needs, whilst reducing average length of stay, excess bed
days, re-admissions within 28 days and discharges direct to long term care. It was reported that work carried out by the project team suggested that
the current process was complex, that the existing system for supported
discharge was highly complicated in that numerous teams and individuals could
be involved in the process, and that Ward staff had to deal with very different
systems across the different Boroughs. In addition, as the length of stay
reduced and throughput increased, it became increasingly challenging for ward
staff to navigate the discharge process in a timely manner. In addition, there
was also duplication and hand offs and performance issues. The proposal from the project group was that an Integrated Discharge
Team be developed in each Hospital. The team would consist of employees from
each of the partners organisations; Warrington and Whiston
Hospitals, NHS Halton and St Helens, St Helens Council, Knowsley
Council, Knowsley PCT, Warrington Council, Warrington
PCT and Halton Council. This team would operate as a single point of referral for all patients
within the Hospital, irrespective of which Borough they were resident in, the
persons discharge would then be planned irrespective of whether it was a health
or social care discharge. The integrated team would comprise of discharge workers, discharge team specialists and support staff, all working under a senior team manager. Staff would be drawn ... view the full minutes text for item 33. |
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Customer Care end of year report for Adult Social Care PDF 76 KB Minutes: The Board was advised that from 1 April 2009 a new Department of
Health complaints process had been introduced for dealing with complaints
within both Health and Social Care services.
The emphasis had been placed on getting the response to a complaint right
first time by; understanding the complaint, selecting the most appropriate
method of investigation and response, setting out a plan of how to respond to
the complaint and keeping the complainant informed throughout. It was reported that the new complaint process was working well and
under the new system there had been a reduction in the number of complaints
moving to formal independent investigations from 5 down to 3. The Board was advised that the new procedures had replaced the old
process and the new complaints process
had effectively removed the old Stage 3 Review Panel stage, although procedures
were flexible enough to use whatever was most appropriate for individual cases. The table in the report showed how the number of complaints closed
over previous years - 46 statutory complaints were closed during 2009/10. This
equated to 9 fewer complaints than last year. The Board was further advised that the analysis of the complaints
and comments that had been received enabled the Authority to reflect on the
lessons that could be learned, and informed the development of services provided and
commissioned. In addition, comments, compliments and complaints provided
essential information to help shape and develop services. They complemented the
wide range of consultation exercises that the Directorate undertook (including
postal and telephone surveys, open forums, consultation days, participation in
service developments and representation of users and carers on strategic
boards). The Board noted the improvements that had been made during the last
year to improve complaint handling. Members commented that it would be useful if examples were given where
complaints had been dealt with that had successful outcomes. They were pleased to note that the number of compliments
that had been recorded had increased by 10 on the previous year, making a total
of 98, which had exceeded the number of complaints received. RESOLVED: That the report and comments made be noted. |
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Services for Deaf and Deafblind PDF 15 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The
Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Adults and Community which
gave details on the decision to tender the provision of statutory assessments
of need for Halton residents who were deaf, deafblind or hearing
impaired. The Board was advised that the attached report and Appendix 1 to the
report had been presented to the Executive Board Sub Committee on
22 July 2010 and subsequently the Board approved the following recommendations: a) to note the contents of the report and the
findings from consultation summarised in Appendices 1 and 2; b) support implementation of Option 3 as detailed in
3.8.3; and c) waive Standing Orders
4.1 and 4.3 in the light of the exceptional circumstances, namely that service
provision needed to be maintained whilst a tendering process was undertaken,
and authorise the Operational Director Planning and Commissioning, in
consultation with the relevant portfolio holder, to award a contract to
Deafness Support Network as detailed in 3.8.4. The Board was further advised that effectively the Executive Board
Sub Committee had agreed that to ensure there was no gap in statutory services
and meeting assessed need the existing contract with DSN be
extended for a further six months to 31st March 2011 at a cost of £37,438. RESOLVED: That the contents of the report, as agreed by the Executive Board Sub Committee on 22 July 2010 and comments made be noted. |