Agenda and minutes

Resolved: That Councillor Jenny Jefferies be Vice-Chair of this Committee for the Municipal Year 2020/2.

Members are reminded that at the start of the meeting, they should declare any known interests in any matter to be considered and also during the meeting if it becomes apparent that they have an interest in the matters being discussed.

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting.

Councillor Robert Wright made a personal, non-prejudicial declaration of interest to Agenda item 7, (Covid-19 Response and Recovery) on the grounds that his step-father was in a care home.

For this meeting, any questions must be sent in writing to CommitteeServices@swindon.gov.uk by no later than 16:00 time on 1^st September 2020. The question(s) and response(s) will be posted on the Council’s website as an Annex to the Minutes. 

In accordance with Standing Order 28, Mr Johnathan Sheldrake and Mr Lance Cole, Swindon residents, submitted written questions regarding Covid-19 and its impact on Swindon residents.   

The Chair thanked Mr Sheldrake and Mr Lance for their questions and advised the Committee that a written response had been provided.    

Mr Sheldrake was at the meeting and asked a supplementary question on how Covid-19 patients were asked to assist with the antibodies trials being undertaken at Great Western Hospital (GWH).  Mr Kevin McNamara, Chief Executive, Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, responded at the meeting.

Resolved: That the Chief Legal Officer be requested to review the timescales for the submission and responses to Public Questions.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 28^th January 2020.

Further to Minute 39, the Director of Housing confirmed that a review of the legal implications and a benefits analysis regarding the use of Section 215 by a range of Council services would be submitted at a future meeting of the Committee.

Further to Minute 42, the Corporate Director Adult Social Care, Health and Housing and the Operations Manager, Avon and Wiltshire NHS Partnership Trust (AWP) responded to a question regarding the Health Based Place of Safety Under Section 136 and advised whilst this was not a regional unit, patient’s care was paramount.  Due to capacity issues in some regional areas, this meant that patients were transferred to Devises.  Members were advised that the Devises Place of Safety was mainly to be utilised by patients from Swindon, Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset.

Resolved: (1) That further to Minute 39, a cross party motion to encourage property owners to ensure their properties are occupied, be submitted to Council at its meeting on the 1^st October 2020.

(2) That the minutes of the meeting held on 28^th January 2020 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Committee considered a report by the Chief Legal Officer regarding the appointment of Co-optees to the Adults’ Health, Adults’ Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the Municipal Year 2020/21.

Resolved: (1) That the appointment of the following non-voting representatives be confirmed:

                                 ·            Phil Matthews (Tenant Scrutiny Panel)

                                 ·            Vanessa Scott (Healthwatch)

                                 ·            Rosemary Curtis (Homeless Organisations Standing Together in Swindon -HOSTS).

(2) That a representative from the Equalities Advisory Forum be appointed to the Committee.

(3) That a representative from the Black and Minority Ethnic community be appointed to the Committee.

(4)  The Chair thanked Michelle Howard for her commitment and contribution to the Committee during her time as the Equality Advisory Group representative.

The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care, Health & Housing, the Chief Operating Officer Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and the Chief Executive at Great Western Hospital (GWH) presented a report that provided the Committee with pertinent information relating to the Council’s, CCG’s and GWH and Community Services response and recovery to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care, Health & Housing set the background to the report in a global, national and local context, in particular elaborating on the number of cases and deaths in Swindon. From an Adults Services perspective, she referred to the introduction of the Hospital Discharge Hub which allowed patients to be discharged from hospital on the day they became medically fit.  Members noted that the department worked closely with Public Health teams, Health Protection Teams and Public Health England to contain a number of outbreaks in care homes, work places and the town centre.  She also outlined the recovery plan where Public Health was spearheading the work across Swindon to be undertaken with partners including parishes and the community sector and emphasised that addressing the Covid-19 pandemic was a team effort between internal and external partners.

The Chief Executive (GWH) elaborated on the actions undertaken by the Trust at the beginning of the pandemic in preparation for the expected influx of patients with Covid-19.   Staff and patient safety was a priority and personal protection equipment (PPE) was sourced from various providers.  Critical services, particularly for cancer patients, was provided by the Ridgeway Hospital, to ensure continuity of care. He referred to the support provided for the Nightingale Hospital in Bristol and advised that currently, GWH was working to reduce patient waiting lists.   He concluded that as an organisation, lessons were learnt from dealing with the first wave of Covid-19 and this placed the Trust in good position for the future.    

The Chief Operating Officer Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) reiterated the importance of partnership working and how this benefited the community, particularly at the start of the pandemic.  He drew attention to the nationally recognised Discharge Hub model and Care Home Cell which ensured a multi-partner coordinated approach to providing rapid support around discharge needs or care home pressures. He elaborated on the actions taken by primary care to help patients access services, particularly those unable to use technology.    

Following the presentation of the report Councillor Brian Ford, the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, Councillor Cathy Martyn, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care, Health & Housing, the Chief Operating Officer (CCG), the Chief Executive  (GWH), the Director of Public Health and the Director of Housing responded to members’ questions and comments on the following issues:

·         How death register data was obtained from the Office of National Statistics and that it only related to Swindon residents. 

·         The effective use of Shalbourne Ward as a Covid-19 assessment unit for patients and how Covid-19 testing was currently being undertaken according to national guidelines.

·         The use of personal protection equipment, the types  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee considered a report by the Chief Legal Officer on the results of the work programme consultation and the suggested priorities of the work for the Municipal Year, 2020/21. The Committee reviewed the work programme and requested that it be updated to reflect actions contained in this report and recommended by the Committee.

Resolved: (1) That the details and activities included in the work programme for 2020/21, be noted.

(2) That the Committee thanks all the contributors who had suggested topics for inclusion in the Committee’s Work Programme for the Municipal Year, 2020/21.

(3) That extra emphasis be given to the following reports during this Municipal Year:

·         Obesity

·         Mental health affecting the BAME community