Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ann Rosenberg and Victoria Brignell.

The Chair formally welcomed Councillor Emma Apthorp to the Committee.

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 Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record and to note any outstanding actions.

Matters arising

In reference to Item 4, Councillor Ben Coleman (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care) asked if there had been any updates from the Government or the NHS about the allocation of funding for the rebuilding and refurbishment of local hospitals. The Chair said no progress had been reported. Jim Grealy suggested the Committee should invite NHS representatives to a future meeting to discuss the implications.

In reference to Item 5, Jim Grealy noted that the engagement document on palliative care options would not be released with enough time for H&F residents to read and digest before the scheduled engagement session. Merril Hammer felt another H&F engagement session should be organised so as not to disadvantage H&F residents. Linda Jackson (Strategic Director of Independent Living) said the Council could request the session was delayed.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

This item presents the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2022/23 for review and comment.

At the start of the item the Chair noted that a video had been circulated for members to watch prior to the meeting, summarising learning from the Alison review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jWEbFDSVo4

Mike Howard (Safeguarding Adults Board Chair) addressed the Committee and introduced the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2022/23. He was joined by Ceri Gordon (Safeguarding Adults Board Manager).

Mike Howard presented the report and highlighted the following points:

• The importance of multi-agency working and the contributions from all partners, including the Council.
• The improving understanding of fire risk and response.
• The new guidance produced on Safeguarding Adults Reviews for family, friends, carers, and professionals.
• The work done by the Board and partners to ensure people felt safe in their homes.

Keith Mallinson noted the housing issues in the report and asked what the Board could do, particularly with regard to the private rented sector. Mike Howard said there was a serious case of mould where the coroner wrote to the Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety. The Board had discussed the issue and had received updates on repairs from Housing colleagues at the Council. Linda Jackson (Strategic Director of Independent Living) added that the Council had an improvement programme for its own housing stock and a licensing scheme for private sector housing. Members suggested the Board ask for a progress update from housing providers. Mike Howard agreed. Linda Jackson suggested an update on damp and mould in public and private housing be added to the agenda for Safety Advisory Board.

ACTION: Mike Howard / Linda Jackson

Dr Nicola Lang (Director of Public Health) noted that an easy read guide to housing for professionals had been published in February 2022. The guide explained the role of the new housing safety team and what they could do in response to issues with private sector or social landlords.

Jim Grealy noted the issues of self-neglect and isolation highlighted in the report and asked how services could ensure continuity through one point of contact to help build trust and confidence.

Linda Jackson said the Health and Social Care Partnership Board had agreed for partners to work together in neighbourhood teams and discuss who should be the lead professional for each case.

Councillor Emma Apthorp asked if frontline staff were trained in fire safety. Linda Jackson said all Adult Social Care staff were offered training to do fire safety risk assessments, in partnership with the fire service. The Housing team were also doing training around fire risk assessment. But she added that there were challenges when it came to choices made by residents and how to mitigate those risks.

The Chair asked if the safeguarding information leaflet for families and carers was available in languages other than English. Ceri Gordon (Safeguarding Adults Board Manager) said it hadn’t been translated yet, but officers were looking at making all resources accessible.

Councillor Apthorp asked if officers had considered making domestic abuse training available to the Council’s third sector partners. Mike Howard said the Board  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This paper provides an overview of vaccination programmes in Hammersmith & Fulham. The paper focuses on childhood vaccinations, but data is included where pertinent on the wider schedule.

Members of the Committee are asked to note and support the work that system partners across London, including NHSE London, the Local Authority, and the Integrated Care Board are doing to increase vaccination uptake.

Susan Elden (NHS England) introduced the item on vaccination programmes in Hammersmith & Fulham. She was joined by:

• Carla Hobart (Specialist Registrar NHSE)
• Kevin Driscoll and Lucy Rumbellow (NHS North West London ICB)
• Anne Tunbridge (Immunisations commissioner NHSE London)

From the Council, Dr Nicola Lang (H&F Director of Public Health) and Tahirah Chaves (Head of Child Public Health) attended to provide an update on the borough’s plans.

Councillor Ben Coleman (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care) noted the community vaccine locations mentioned by NHSE in the presentation were not in the borough and asked for a commitment that there would be appropriate community locations in the borough. Carla Hobart said the aim was to have community locations in all boroughs. Susan Elden said she could provide the list of locations following the meeting.

ACTION: Carla Hobart / Susan Elden

Councillor Genevieve Nwaogbe asked what officers and partners were doing to tackle the borough’s consistently poor uptake of vaccines.Kevin Driscoll said they were making the offer as accessible as possible and promoting it to residents. He said they were fully invested and focused on community engagement.

Councillor Nwaogbe said the report implied that the problem was provision of staff but the Council had venues to offer. She also spoke about the genuine distrust amongst some communities due to past medical abuses and asked what the NHS and partners were doing differently to reach those communities. Kevin Driscoll said he accepted the challenge and said they took issues of lack of trust and structural racism very seriously. He noted their contracts stipulated hiring from within communities and they worked with faith health networks to improve community reach.

Keith Mallinson asked the NHS representatives if they were working with the right people and groups. He noted the report mentiond working with community organisations but the organisation he worked for hadn’t received any information on vaccinations. He asked them to look again at who they were working with. Kevin Driscoll said he would take Keith’s details. He noted they were building a model of community engagement and had successfully held clinics in food banks.

Tahirah Chaves said some communities were vocal and more engaged. The Council was trying to think about the groups that weren’t engaging and think about the contexts where parents would get involved – in the new Family Hubs for example.

Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris said she felt the 82% vaccination rate in care homes seemed low. She also raised concerns about the relatively low rate of vaccinations for young people and suggested it may be because some people didn’t have access to GPs. Kevin Driscoll said 82% coverage for care homes was very high. They had a team to go into care homes and work with residents and their families to get consent. Regarding access to GPs, Kevin Driscoll noted they had data for unregistered young people and have sent letters to parents in the past to encourage GP registration and other options for vaccinations.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee is asked to consider items for inclusion in its work programme.

The Chair proposed a working group to look at improving vaccination services in the borough.

To note the following dates of future meetings:

·       31 January 2024

·       27 March 2024

The following dates of future meetings were noted:

• 31 January 2024
• 27 March 2024