To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were recieved from Councillors SPA Daniels and AE Gray and from Mrs A Stoakes, Vice-Chairman of the Primary Care Trust Patient and Public Involvement Forum.

To receive details of any Member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor PJ Edwards substituted for Councillor AE Gray and Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes for Councillor SPA Daniels.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on this agenda.

The following declarations of interest were made:

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 14th August, 2007

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 14th August, 2007 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

There were no suggestions from Members of the public.

To consider a response to the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s proposed reconfiguration of emergency operations centres.

The Committee considered a response to the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s (WMAS) proposed reconfiguration of emergency operations centres (EOCs).

Copies of the WMAS consultation document had been previously circulated to Members of the Committee.  Documentation supplied by the Save Your Emergency Operations Centre campaign being run by staff based at the Hereford and Worcester Emergency Operations Centre at Bransford had also been circulated

Mr M MacGregor Regional Head of Commissioning for WMAS and Mr D Laird, WMAS Locality Director for Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire attended the meeting to present the Trust’s proposals and answer questions.

The presentation set out the background to the formation of the West Midlands Regional Ambulance Trust noting that it was the highest performing Regional Trust.  It illustrated the current emergency operations centres (EOCs) and the lack of links between them, apart from between Shrewsbury and Brierley.  It was noted that if the EOC at Bransford failed the fallback was an office at Bromsgrove Ambulance Station which could accommodate 4 seats compared with 7 at Bransford.  It would take about half an hour to make this operational.  During that time no ambulances could be despatched in the locality area – none of the other EOCs could help.  It was added that local knowledge was not a factor taken into account when recruiting staff – no one could know every location in the locality.

The reasons for change were outlined as follows:  there were five stand alone facilities; the fall back facilities were not fit for purpose; there was no ability to work together or spread calls.  The arrangements did not comply with the Civil Contingencies Act and there were a multitude of different, incompatible systems.  The aim of the reconfiguration was to achieve better patient care with the use of more clinicians, faster call answering to get help to patients more quickly, enhanced career progression for EOC staff, improved resilience, ability to deal with a major incident, standardised technology and the retention of local knowledge, whilst noting that technology was adept at identifying the location of a caller.

The proposal was described as involving, two large centres mirroring one another at Tollgate, Stafford and Brierley Hill, with a third Centre at Leamington Spa which was currently the third busiest Centre with more resilience than the other remaining two Centres.  This would significantly increase the number of EOC seats from 62 to 110.  It would pool resources, centralise functions and provide flexibility.  It was stated that concerns that ambulances would be sucked into Birmingham were ill-founded and not borne out by the experience of Coventry and Warwickshire, or Shropshire and the Black Country.  There was a safeguard in that the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) would in any event demand that performance levels were maintained.

Support arrangements for current EOC staff were outlined.  Whilst WMAS had said there would be no redundancies it was recognised that not all current staff at Bransford would want to relocate.  There were no plans to move ambulances.  The vast majority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To consider a scoping statement for a review of Elderly Falls.

The Committee considered a scoping statement for a review of “elderly falls” and the process for the review.

RESOLVED:  That the scoping statement for the review of “Elderly Falls” as appended to the report, be approved, subject to simplification of some of the terminology.

To receive an update from the Hospitals Trust.

The Committee received an update on Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust’s progress towards achieving Foundation Trust status.

It was noted that the Trust Board continued to believe that Foundation Trust Status was the best vehicle for maintaining and improving the quality of and access to secondary healthcare services for the people of Herefordshire.  The timescale for consideration of the Trust’s current application was subject to change because of the number of applications under consideration by the Department of Health.

In response to questions about the prospects for this second application it was stated that the Trust’s financial position was stronger than when the first application had been made.

RESOLVED:  That the position be noted and further updates provided.

To note early plans to change two aspects of mental health services provided by Herefordshire Primary Care Trust.

The Committee was informed of plans to change two aspects of mental health services provided by the PCT.

The first proposal related to “The Shires”, where the PCT was proposing to tender for a new provider of the service, which provided long term accommodation for younger people with enduring mental health issues.  The second related to a review of the mental health rehabilitation service.

RESOLVED:   That the proposals be noted and the Primary Care Trust asked to provide further reports when the proposals were far enough advanced for the Committee to comment on them.

To note early plans to change the management of mental health services, and to change the way community mental health teams work.

The Committee considered plans to change the management of mental health services and the way in which community mental health teams worked.

Mr Paul Ryan, Head of Commissioning at the Primary Care Trust presented the report.  He explained that while the changes were in some respects relatively minor they were significant for service users.  It was noted that a consultation exercise had been undertaken and it was proposed to report on the outcome to the Committee’s next meeting.

RESOLVED: That the proposal be noted and Herefordshire Mental Health Services be asked to present the results of the consultation for discussion by the Committee at its next meeting.

To receive a progress report on the development of a Local Involvement Network.

The Committee received a progress report on the development of a Local Involvement Network (LINk).

The Procurement Officer presented the report.  It was noted that the amount of money to be allocated by the Government to run the LINks had not yet been announced which meant that tenders could not be invited from potential hosts for the LINk.  There was also a general lack of clarity about the operation of the LINks.

It was proposed that the Minister should be informed of the Committee’s concerns and clarification sought.

The Chairman of the Primary Care Trust Patient and Public Involvement Forum criticised the Council’s approach to the development of the LINk.  He said that the PPIF had not been involved and consulted on its development despite its offer to assist in the process.

In reply the Chairman expressed regret at the PPIF’s concern and said that it had always been intended that once the detail was known the Council would discuss the development with the PPIF.  The Director of Adult and Community Services added that officers would be happy to meet to discuss the PPIF’s concerns and draw on its assistance but had to be careful also to maintain the independence of the procurement process.

RESOLVED:   That clarification be sought from the Minister on the plans for the development of the Local Involvement Networks.

To consider the Committee’s work programme.

The Committee considered its work programme.

RESOLVED:  That the work programme as appended to the report be approved and reported to the Strategic Monitoring Committee.