Venue: Conference Room 1 - Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane Offices, Hereford, HR4 0LE. View directions
Contact: Henry Merricks-Murgatroyd, Democratic Services Officer
Link: Watch this meeting live on the Herefordshire Council Youtube Channel
Items
No. |
Item |
21. |
Apologies for absence
To receive apologies for absence.
Minutes:
Apologies for absence
were received from Cllr Pauline Crockett.
|
22. |
Named substitutes
To receive details of
any councillor nominated to attend the meeting in place of a member
of the committee.
Minutes:
Cllr Elizabeth Foxton was present as the named
substitute for Cllr Pauline Crockett.
|
23. |
Declarations of interest
To receive declarations of interest in respect of
items on the agenda.
Minutes:
No declarations of interest were made.
|
24. |
Minutes PDF 229 KB
To receive the minutes of the meeting held on
Thursday 3 October 2024.
Minutes:
The minutes of the previous meeting were
received.
Resolved: That the
minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2024 be confirmed as a
correct record.
|
25. |
Questions from members of the public
To
receive any written questions from members of the
public.
Minutes:
No questions had been
received from members of the public.
|
26. |
Questions from members of the council
To receive any written questions from members
of the council.
Minutes:
No questions had been received from
councillors.
|
27. |
Dental services in Herefordshire PDF 213 KB
To examine Hereford’s oral health
outcomes and the work being undertaken to improve the oral health
of the local population.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The committee considered a report on Dental
Services in Herefordshire by NHS ICB colleagues.
The principal points of the discussion are
summarised below:
- The Director of Delegated
Commissioning (NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB) introduced
the report and welcomed the opportunity to update the committee on
progress on dental services in Herefordshire. The committee was
advised that since 2022, NHS England has delegated the
responsibility for the commissioning and purchasing of dental
services to the Integrated Care Board (ICB). The ICB took this on
in 2023. As part of the process at looking at improvements to
dental services in Herefordshire, the ICB have developed a
‘Dental Recovery Plan’ which is aimed to ensure that
the populations across both Herefordshire and Worcestershire have
access to sustainable NHS dental prevention, care and treatment. It
was recognised that the national contract for dentistry is not
attractive to the profession and the ICB is tackling two key issues
which challenge access to NHS dentistry – the national dental
contract; and workforce.
- In response to a question about
where new NHS dentists are being supervised, the Director of
Delegated Commissioning (NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB)
noted that a dental training school has been introduced locally
which will support training and fast-tracking dentists that will be
brought to the area.
- The Head of Delegated Commissiong
(NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB) added that the training
school taps into some of the overseas dentists who are brought to
the local area. They are fully qualified from their country of
origin but NHS regulations in the UK require a period of mentoring
before they can become a fully qualified NHS dentist. It is hoped
that this scheme will help attract dentists into the local area.
Some of the incentives that are being put in place incentivises
them to stay for a minimum of three years and it is hoped that they
will want to continue working in the area.
- In response to a question about the
contract hand-backs referenced in the report, the Director of
Delegated Commissioning (NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB)
commented that they are the hand-backs that were in place just
prior to the ICB becoming the responsible commissioner between
October 2022 - March 2023. As part of the assessment of dental
service need, the ICB has undertaken an oral health needs
assessment to identify across the 176 wards within Herefordshire
and Worcestershire where the areas of greatest need are. The Dental
Services Equity Audit looked at areas of deprivation, the number of
children with decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT). The ICB
have looked at how many units of dental activity (UDA) have been
commissioned across Herefordshire and how many are needed to be
commissioned to get back to the pre-covid level of 55% of the
population having access to NHS dentistry. Two new dental practices
being commissioned in Hereford city which was located as an area of
high need.
- The Head of Delegated Commissioning
(NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB) highlighted findings
from the Dental Services Equity ...
view the full minutes text for item 27.
|
28. |
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance visit preparation PDF 276 KB
To scrutinise preparation for an anticipated
assurance visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The committee considered a report on the Care
Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance Visit Preparation. The
Vice-Chairperson introduced the officers to present the
council’s report.
A short presentation on the CQC Assurance
visit preparation was delivered.
The principal points of the subsequent
discussion are summarised below:
- In response to a question on the
type of cases that will be presented to the CQC, the Head of
Service Transformation & Improvement explained that the cases
presented to the CQC will include a combination of individuals
receiving care and support through the local authority, as well as
unpaid carers. A total of fifty individual cases are available to
be put forward.
- The Corporate Director Community
Wellbeing clarified that in terms of the cases, the CQC stipulate
that they want cases of older people and those with learning
disabilities. Therefore, there must be a broad range across the
piece and a certain number of cases must be picked from certain
criteria.
- In response to a question as to
whether specific areas of assessment will be looked at by the CQC,
the Head of Service Transformation & Improvement confirmed that
the notice of assessment will land with the Corporate Director and
will be asked to upload the range of information within the first
three weeks. The next part of the process will involve a team at
the CQC will look through all the information uploaded and will
talk to partners, carers, and individuals and all of the
discussions will help establish key lines of enquiry.
- The Corporate Director Community
Wellbeing added that apart from the four themes of the assessment
framework, there are no key lines identified in the initial notice
by the CQC. The information in terms of performance indicators will
start to hone where they may want to focus their attention to in
terms of the four areas.
- In response to a question about
cases that are less usual, the Service Director Adult Social Care
& Housing noted that the CQC will be looking at people’s
experiences and when they access the fifty cases, they will be able
to ask questions about people’s experiences and will be in
terms of equality, diversity and inclusion in the broader sense and
staff experience as to communicating with people from different
backgrounds and differing needs.
- The Corporate Director of Community
Wellbeing noted that some cases involve working with individuals
who are less usual. The case tracker will capture the diversity of
these cases and the wide range of experiences of the individuals
they support.
- In response to a question about the
type of questions that may be asked, the Corporate Director of
Community Wellbeing explained that officers have a good
understanding of the types of questions likely to arise.
Additionally, mock interviews have been conducted using a prepared
set of questions to ensure readiness and confidence when talking
about the work that staff have been doing.
- In response to a question about
whether the CQC speak to external providers, the Corporate Director
of Community Wellbeing noted that a list ...
view the full minutes text for item 28.
|
29. |
Work programme 2024/5 PDF 216 KB
To consider the work programme for
Herefordshire Council’s Health, Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny
Committee for the municipal year 2024/25.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Statutory Scrutiny Officer noted the draft
work programme for the Health, Care, and Wellbeing Scrutiny
Committee for the municipal year 2024/25.
The Vice-Chairperson recommended that it might
be useful to wait until the JSNA report is published and whether
there are any items that the committee may want to look at that
time.
The Statutory Scrutiny Officer suggested that
the committee should stay informed about the progress of dental
services in Herefordshire. It was subsequently confirmed that this
topic would be included in the draft work programme for the
committee's approval at its next meeting.
The committee unanimously agreed the draft
work programme for Health, Care, and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee
as contained in appendix 1.
Resolved that:
The committee agree
the draft work programme for Health, Care, and Wellbeing Scrutiny
Committee contained in the work programme report attached as
appendix 1, which will be subject to monthly review, as the basis
of their primary focus for the remainder of the municipal year.
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30. |
Date of the next meeting
Date of the next scheduled meeting: Monday 17
February 2025, 2.00 pm
Minutes:
The next scheduled meeting in public was
confirmed as Monday 17 February 2025, 2.00 pm.
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