Agenda and minutes

County Councillors Azhar Ali, Bernard Dawson and Paul Rigby replaced County Councillors Hasina Khan, Nikki Hennessy and Stuart C Morris respectively.

Apologies were received from County Councillors Gina Dowding, Margaret Pattison and Councillors Glen Harrison and Gail Hodson.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: That the minutes from the meeting held on 25 September 2018 be confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed Sue Lott, Head of Service Adult Social Care (Health); Emma Ince, Interim Director of Transformation and Design, NHS Chorley and South Ribble CCG and NHS Greater Preston CCG; Ailsa Brotherton, Director of Continuous Improvement; and Faith Button, Deputy Director of Operations, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The report presented described improvements to hospital discharge arrangements and performance during the last year since the Health Scrutiny Committee had met in January 2018. It was noted that last winter was extremely challenging nationally for the NHS, followed by a similarly highly pressured summer period in 2018, due to the heatwave. The health and social care system was heading into the next winter season in a pressured position. However, the focus would remain on reducing delays across all Lancashire hospitals and to achieve good outcomes for Lancashire residents.

The report set out a number of key actions the NHS and the County Council had implemented or were developing since the January meeting of the Committee. Latest data for Lancashire (August 2018) showed that the overall level of Delayed Transfers of Care (DToC) had significantly reduced over the last 12 months, showing a 31.9% decrease overall.

A number of points were raised by members, a summary of which is set out below:

·  Concerns were raised by one councillor about the increase in delayed transfers of care across the Trusts from April 2018 to August 2018. It was reported that the increase in delays was in part due to the long heatwave over the summer months. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals had observed this trend and were working to understand the full reasons for the increase in delays to improve system resilience.

·  Lancashire Teaching Hospitals were following best practice guidance for supporting patients who were admitted on emergency pathways. Patients would now have an expected date of discharge set within 24 hours of admission. If a patient's clinical condition changed then the discharge date would be reviewed.

·  Members welcomed the introduction of the Discharge Charter for Central Lancashire.

·  It was highlighted by one councillor that concerns had been raised with them regarding patients being discharged from hospital too soon. Members sought assurance and requested data on the Trust's readmission rates in respect of this point. It was reported that readmission rates at the Trust were good and that since the introduction of the home first scheme only two patients had been readmitted.

·  It was noted that the Trust had signed up to take part in an NHS Improvement ECIST (Emergency Care Intensive Support Team) programme and had specifically asked to be partnered with Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. The first visit was planned for 27 November 2018. The Committee was informed that officers would welcome the opportunity to share the learning from this programme at a future meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

·  A question was asked on whether there was a specific target that the Trust was aiming for on bed occupancy. The Committee was informed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The report gave an overview of matters presented and considered by the Health Scrutiny Steering Group at its meeting held on 19 September 2018 and the Joint Cumbria and Lancashire Health Scrutiny Committee at its planning meeting held on 28 September 2018.

Resolved: That the report of Health Scrutiny Steering Group and the Joint Cumbria and Lancashire Health Scrutiny Committee be noted.

The Work Programmes for both the Health Scrutiny Committee and its Steering Group were presented to the Committee.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 11 December 2018 at 10.30am at County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 11 December 2018 at 10.30am in Cabinet Room C – The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.