Agenda and minutes

(a)   To approve as an accurate record and the Chair to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Health, Adult Social Care and Social Inclusion PAC held on 30 March 2021; and

(b)   To note the outstanding actions.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 March 2021 were agreed as an accurate record. 

None.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

The attendance of committee members was noted and there were no declarations of interest. 

This meeting is being held remotely. If you would like to ask a question about any of the items on the agenda, either remotely or in writing, please contact: bathsheba.mall@lbhf.gov.uk

You can watch the meeting live on YouTube: Watch live on YouTube

None.

This report provides an update on progress made to reshape the local offer.  Highlighting improved areas developed across the council in Children’s Services, Economy and Adult Social Care, the report sets out some of the detail of improved services that aim to support young people in overcoming obstacles to employment and further education opportunities.

5.1     This report provided an update on progress made to reshape the local offer which has been completely transformed post Covid-19 highlighting improved areas developed across Social Care, Children’s Services and The Economy council departments.  The improved local offer was intended to support young people and help them to overcome obstacles to employment and educational opportunities.  The committee had previously considered this on 10 September 2020 and Councillor Richardson welcomed Mary Lamont, Mandy Lawson, Jo Baty, Helen Green, and new starters Yvonne Okiyo and Oliur Rahman. 

5.2    Jo Baty introduced the update which set out the collective, corporate work undertaken on inclusive employment.  

5.3    Helen Green outlined the approach of Children’s Services which considered a person-centred employment pathway and a “stepping-stone” approach. A young people’s cross departmental inclusive employment operational group had been established bringing together the council and voluntary sector partners.  This collective approach allowed the voice of young people to inform and to contribute to the development of pathways. There were 27 supported internship programmes across North West London, including one at the council. Young people had presented at a senior manager forum informing them about their needs and aspirations and other events to consider employment opportunities which had received positive feedback.  

5.4    Oliur Rahman continued with an outline on where the council was on the labour market and unemployment rates which although high following a sharp increase following Covid-19, remained steady. At the end scheme in September 2021, 5200 residents were on furlough when the scheme ended. It would take some time to evaluate the economic and social impact of this. Building on a broad West London study commissioned by the West London Alliance (WLA). Recovery to pre-pandemic levels could be expected across the area by 2023.  The council had supported the creation of 134 vacancies through the Kickstart programme working with partners across the council and externally, which compared favourably with, for example, Camden, with 100 vacancies.  The council worked closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help deliver partnership work with funding to target and support residents that had been most affected by the impact of the pandemic, in addition to matching local need and aligning this work with the council Industrial Strategy.  Statutory programmes such as Work and Health and Jets targeted the long term unemployed to address health barriers to employment. 

5.5    An integrated approach was also being taken in terms of work with schools and students, aiming to raise aspirations and awareness, and a youth hub was planned on the Barons Court campus, West London College (WLC).  The council had been working to add social value by ensuring that all contracts exceeding £100k in value were able to deliver additional value for residents.  The results of these were beginning to emerge and this would be key to generating work experience as well as improved job outcomes. 

5.6    Mary Lamont emphasised the collaborative work taking place across key departments and the development of a 12-month list of priorities and work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

For the Committee to receive a verbal update from the Director of Public Health on Covid-19, with a focus on vaccination.

6.1       Councillor Richardson introduced this item which was a verbal update provided by Sue Roostan and Dr Nicola Lang.  Sue Roostan took questions and Dr Lang followed up with a brief update on phase three of the borough’s vaccination programme.  

6.2       Councillor Richardson recognised that the borough had one of the lowest vaccination rates in North West London and asked what was being done to address this.  Councillor Ben Coleman reported similar concerns about the most recent developments which included the closure of the mass vaccination centres, the indecision of NHS England about pharmacies operating as vaccination hubs and a shortage of vaccinators. Residents were limited to four pharmacy locations offering a Covid vaccination.  There were also variations in reporting, with the borough’s progress reported differently by both NHS Foundry System and NWL Integrated Care System. Whilst planning was ongoing the cumulative affect presented a difficult picture which ignored the point that making vaccination simple and easy was a proven approach, for example, using pop buses.

6.3       Sue Roostan confirmed that there were some data anomalies in the calculations and where the borough was placed in the league tables, but the borough was middle of the pack in terms of NWL figures.  The borough was offering the vaccines to those that were eligible in line with the JCVI delivery programme (Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisations).  Booster vaccines were being offered, in addition to first and second doses, working with the local authority to implement a targeted approach, in partnership with GP practices.

6.4       There was not a shortage of vaccinators but there was a requirement to have a minimum number of registered healthcare professionals on site when vaccinators were working, and this was a significant issue. In addition to being responsible for the preparation of the vaccine and overseeing the clinical work of the vaccinators, they were also responsible for participating in the primary care recovery work and supporting pop ups and vaccine buses, supported by the local authority and Imperial staff.  A vaccine bus at the Claybrook, and the Stephen Wiltshire facilities had been very well received. While concerns about low take up were understandable it could not be attributed to low resources. There were currently five pharmacies with a further eleven expected to be authorised and functioning shortly. There were also four primary care network (PCN) sites.  Low take up was attributed to vaccine hesitancy but there had been significant and ongoing work being undertaken by the NHS and the local authority to tackle this.

6.5       Councillor Coleman highlighted that there had been three pop ups that had not gone ahead at the Claybrook, Shepherds Bush Market and at the Lyric Theatre because there were no vaccinators available.  Mobilising at short notice also made things very difficult.  Sue Roostan accepted this criticism and explained that they were also supporting the school’s vaccine programme, at the same time, prioritising 12-15-year olds, within a short period of time ahead of half term. This required short term adjustments to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This verbal update reports on the recent developments regarding hospital discharges and how this process is managed to ensure that the correct protocols are in place and that they are followed.  These include areas of staff accountability, transparency, and sound administration.

7.1       Councillor Richardson introduced a verbal update that outlined recent developments on hospital discharges which had been brought to her attention by a resident who had been recently discharged. It would examine the discharge process to understand how this was managed and to ensure that the correct protocols were in place, and areas of staff accountability, transparency, and sound administration. Councillor Richardson welcomed Matt White, Jo Baty and Lucy Allen to provide the update.  

7.2       It was explained that Matt White had previously worked across the three boroughs service (H&F, WCC and RBKC) and had returned in an interim capacity covering hospital discharges.  There were checks and balances on the system to monitor people going through the discharge to assess process and within this different were levels of assurance.  The process was multi-disciplinary involving different relationships and cost sharing between health and social care teams.  There had been an impact on discharge success caused by Covid and this had changed the process significantly.  An emergency process had been implemented at that point but more recently, there had been a slow down which offered some breathing space ahead of the winter pressures.  This offered a timely opportunity to review services across all three boroughs. More recent developments included working with Charing Cross Hospital discharge leads to review and share learning when mistakes occur.

7.3       Councillor Richardson welcomed the assurance that reviews were undertaken to review errors which serve as checks and balances, offering accountability to patients and their families and about who was consulted about care, including family members, to ensure that clear information is provided was essential.  Matt White explained that following Covid the service had updated its documentation with information about new arrangements.  It was recognised that having a family member in hospital resulted in a chaotic time for family members so there was a great deal of information and leaflets offered to support them.  In response to a follow up question, Matt White outlined how the homeless pathway operated which also incorporated additional homeless support services offered by providers such as Imperial and St Mungos. Key to the success of this was clear communication.  Jo Baty added that H&F, Social Care colleagues participated in a weekly discharge meeting, including officers from hospitals, reablement, commissioning, brokerage, homeless and finance teams.  This ensures that the right, focussed support is being provided to residents and that any areas of concern are tackled promptly with agility. 

7.4       Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris commended the work being undertaken and asked how a homeless person could be helped when they were fit to be discharged but you were aware that they were not necessarily well enough to be in the community by themselves.  Matt White explained that adults with capacity had the right to choose to leave, if they were fit to be discharged.  There were street medical services that could support a homeless person on discharge, but the golden rule was that a person with capacity has complete autonomy over decisions about  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

This report provides an update on the work of the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) Mental Health Campaign and of the implementation of the Mental Health Integrated Network Teams (MINT) across Hammersmith & Fulham.  It also includes areas yet to be developed, and offers a timetable going forward.

8.1       Councillor Richardson welcomed Helen Mangan and Dr Christopher Hilton from WLT, Gail Dearing, Wendy Lofthouse, Linda Stradins from WLT and Jo Baty who provided an update on the work of the ICP adult Mental Health Campaign (MHC) and the implementation of the Mental Health Integrated Network Teams (MINT) across H&F, and areas yet to be developed.  The committee had been expecting a fuller report which had been previously postponed in September as it was not ready, and Councillor welcomed this interim update.   

8.2       Helen Mangan provided an outline highlighting the significant work being undertaken collaboratively, post Covid, and the work that was planned through the ICP.  The MHC had met throughout the summer and the core group tasked with delivering this work comprised of mental health staff, community trust social care PCN and voluntary sector colleagues, underpinned by a wider stakeholder group. The objectives of the MHC were currently in development and emerging.  It was important to identify barriers to care for those who were passionate about working in mental health to improve the physical health care of people with serious mental illness.  The core group had developed networks, connections and built trust and these were key in ensuring a better system.  A key component of was the collaborative approach of the ICP responding to acuity of need and demand.  Helen Mangan apologised for the absence of detail in the paper but there were ongoing discussions to identify formal objectives and to agree health and social care leads which would emerge in the coming weeks, and a more detailed paper would be provided at the January meeting of the committee. 

8.3       A key outcome of the ICP was the ability to respond to demand with agility, and a positive illustration of this was the development of vaccination hubs.  It was well recognised that those service users with serious mental illnesses were also those who were likely to be vaccine hesitant. Take up within this group was about 50% and they had lobbied for a bus to be located at Charing Cross Hospital site where the WLT mental health main unit (The Claybrook) was located. The bus encouraged service users, with the support of a mental health team to make contact and get vaccinated. 12 service users had been vaccinated and this was on going work.  Most importantly, this was achieved through partnership working, bringing together colleagues from the CCG, social care, and public health and had been an invigorating approach.

8.4       Helen Mangan briefly spoke about the Children and Young People core group, the work of which was not as advanced as the mental health core group as it was started later.  Three key areas that planned to explore included pathway mapping, CAMHs (Children and adolescent mental health services) transformation funded by new money coming into the health service, and the funding of services for 16-25 year olds (transition group) which would be a new model being developed across North West London. This new model would be introduced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Committee is asked to consider its work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

The following items would be brought to the November and January meetings of the committee:

-       Covid-19 update - vaccination

-       WLT data provision on services and local take up;

-       Update on the ICP mental health campaign 

10 November 2021

26 January 2022

23 March 2022

The next meeting of the committee was confirmed as 10 November 2021.