Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that: Councillor Graham Lawman be appointed as Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED that: Councillor Charlie Best be appointed as Vice Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

Apologies for absence were revived from Councillor Jon-Paul Carr.

No declarations were made.

RESOLVED that: The minutes of the meeting held on the 11th July 2023 be approved as an accurate record.

The Committee considered a report by the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust (NCT), relating to the work and public engagement carried out by the Trust to develop a new model for short breaks for children with disabilities.

During discussion, the principal points were noted:

·         Members noted that there was no mention of Northamptonshire carers within the report and questioned whether they had been involved in short breaks work.

·         Members requested additional detail concerning fundraising work that had been carried out by the NCT.

·         Members queried whether the NCT had considered requesting voluntary sector organisations to host fundraising support through their own infrastructure, as opposed to maintaining dedicated staff within services to work on fundraising access.

·         One member queried whether any fundamental differences and potential risks had been identified, in comparison with other Children’s Trusts who had adopted similar processes, such as West Sussex and Bromley. The member also questioned how progress would be monitored.

·         Members queried how many children across the county were using residential short breaks.

·         One member queried suggested that a focus should be placed on areas with particularly high levels of deprivation, to support families with less expendable income in caring for children with disabilities.

In response, the representatives from the NCT clarified that:

·         The NCT had held several provided events and invited carers to complete an open survey regarding short breaks.

·         Dedicated support had been established within service provision to support families and children with disabilities in accessing additional statutory funding.

·         Working with voluntary sector partners to host fundraising services had not been considered but was something that would be explored in future.

·         The model adopted by the NCT was supported by both an NHS provider and voluntary sector provider. The delivery of services and engagement with parents and carers by interested parties posed a risk however, the integrated model had been successful and allowed families to access both health and social care services.

·         Across the country (North and West) 70 to 80 children were using the residential short breaks. 120 children had used the non-residential short breaks.

RESOLVED that: The report be noted.

The Committee considered a report by NHS Foundation Trust, regarding its joint work and ‘community-bed’ approach.

During discussion, the principal points were noted:

·         Members queried whether a reduction had been seen in the number of fall victims, in hospital care.

·         One member suggested that additional provision was required for palliative care and expressed concern regarding over reliance on the voluntary sector in this area.

·         One member suggested that greater support should be provided to families’ of dementia patients to assist with care.

·         Members queried how many patients were in care at Kettering General Hospital.

·         Members requested additional detail regarding the budgets and financial risks of the implementation of the programme.

In response, the representatives from the Foundation Trust clarified that:

·         Progress had been made in ensuring care was available for fall victims prior to hospitalisation. The use of technology in this area had been of notable success, since 256 patients were remotely monitored.

·         Work was being carried out in collaboration with local hospices and the Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to review palliative care. A blended funded model existed to support hospices, whereby funding and endowments were provided by the ICB and charitable organisations also.

·         The countywide carers strategy was being refreshed as part of the ‘place-based approach’. In certain cases, individuals were not entitled to financial assistance from the local authority. Nevertheless, the local authority did often provide respite to patients in their own homes or, at times, outside of home environments.

·         A 600-bedded unit existed at Kettering General Hospital, for general admissions.

RESOLVED that: The report be noted.

The Chair thanked the Committee for their attendance and closed the meeting at 8:45pm. 

The next meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee would be held on the 14th November 2023.