Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Paul Rigby replaced County Councillor Peter Steen for this meeting.

Apologies were received from County Councillor John Potter, Mrs Janet Hamid and Simon Smith.

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.

Trish Armstrong-Child, Chief Executive Officer, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust; Jackie Moran, Director of Integration & Transformation, West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group; and Anna Collins, PH5.0 Consulting, were welcomed to the meeting.

The report presented explained that the process to gather views and experiences about local health and care services to help shape how they could be delivered in the future for the people of West Lancashire, Southport and Formby had begun. This was being led by a partnership of NHS organisations in these areas known as the Shaping Care Together programme. This was a listening exercise and not a formal consultation. The programme was at an early stage and no decisions had been made. The committee was also given a presentation on the programme.

The programme's vision was to ensure that care would be integrated with other services so that when patients went home they were supported by the services they needed. It was also to make sure that people only accessed the most appropriate services when they needed to and that services were accessible and effective with skilled staff available to meet their needs.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need to think differently about delivering services and provided an opportunity to trial new ways of providing care, such as digitally.

One of the challenges for the programme was the issues with workforce recruitment and retention. Another challenge was the growing demand for NHS services in and out of hospital. There were financial issues regarding maintaining some services and increasing levels of long-term conditions in the area.

One of the key areas of focus for the programme was services for children, including those with complex needs.

From Winter 2020, the programme had entered its 'Listening Phase,' which focused on engagement with the public as the first step to improving care services. Beginning in January 2021, members of the public were asked to get involved with the programme via a dedicated website or telephone line. In the near future, virtual workshops and discussion groups would be organised.

An external communications team had been advising the programme to ensure that every possible and effective means of communicating with the public was explored. Monthly Board meetings were also held to review the programme's progress.

The following comments, suggestions and questions were noted:

·  The Lancashire Parents and Carers Group were an active voice in the area for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and should be approached for their views on the programme.

·  Approaching schools and consulting with head teachers and school council groups was also suggested. Members were informed that there was now a recently formed council of head teachers across West Lancashire which the local NHS had been engaging with.

·  With the help of Healthwatch Lancashire and the Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) a child friendly version of the briefing document was currently being developed as well as hosting workshops to help obtain the views  of the children and young people.

·  Consideration was being given to how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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 ordinary meeting of the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 9 February 2021 at 10.30am.

The next virtual meeting of the Education and Children's Services Scrutiny Committee would take place on Tuesday 9 February 2021 at 10.30am.