Agenda item

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting.  

89.1           Members received an update from Councillor Mrs J E Day, the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, on matters discussed at its last meeting held on 7 March 2017.

89.2           In light of the closure of Cleeve Link – one of the Council’s home care providers – the Committee had received an update from the Cabinet Member for Older People, the Adult Social Care Commissioning Director and Deputy Commissioning Director.  The Committee appreciated the goodwill and commitment of Cleeve Link staff in continuing to deliver care to their customers following the closure, particularly as many of them had not received payment for some weeks.  Over the weekend following the closure, the County Council had supported these staff by providing free petrol/diesel (via the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service) and food and had subsequently organised a payroll run to ensure that people were paid.  Members had been pleased to note that Officers were working with other providers to ensure that these vulnerable people continued to receive care in the long term. 

89.3           Councillor Day went on to advise that the Committee had been pleased to welcome the Chief Executive and Chair of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to the meeting.  The Chief Executive had apologised that she was not able to present the findings of the financial governance review at the meeting as originally planned.  Whilst the Committee was frustrated with the delay, Members had acknowledged that this was not of the Trust’s making.  There had been a robust and detailed discussion of the Trust’s current financial position and the recovery plan and it was noted that the Trust planned to return to a breakeven position by the end of March 2019.  The Committee was, of course, concerned as to the potential impact of the Trust’s financial situation on services. 

89.4           The Committee had received an update on the Ambulance Response Programme from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Director of Operations.  Members had been informed that the additional time available under the Ambulance Response Programme to triage calls had meant better identification of which calls required an eight minute response, and the despatch of the clinically appropriate vehicle rather than the nearest.  The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust had been consulting staff on changes to the rota and they would be implemented in April 2017; this would ensure that the right number of staff were on at the right time and in the right place, to better manage peak demands.  Alongside this there would be a re-profiling of vehicles in Gloucestershire.  This would mean 16 more double-crewed ambulances and a reduction in the number of rapid response vehicles.

89.5           In terms of the non-emergency patient transport service, it had been disappointing to note that a significant number of aborted journeys resulted from patients cancelling their hospital appointment but not their transport, or making their own way to the hospital without cancelling their transport.  A text reminder service was being introduced that month which it was hoped would reduce these wasted journeys.

89.6           The Chair thanked the Chief Executive and his team for the prompt circulation of an email explaining the situation regarding Cleeve Link.  The Chief Executive indicated that Gloucestershire County Council’s emergency planning team had done a fantastic job and had worked very hard, particularly over the first weekend, to ensure that care to vulnerable people was maintained under very difficult circumstances.

89.7           The Chair thanked the Council’s representative for her update and indicated that it would be circulated to Members following the meeting.  It was

RESOLVED          That the feedback from the last meeting of the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee be NOTED.