Month: June 2011

Health and Well Being Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 20/6/2011 – Part 4

The minutes were agreed. Cllr Glasman proposed Cllr Roberts as Vice-Chair. This was seconded by Cllr Doughty. There were no other nominations so Cllr Roberts was elected as Vice-Chair. Cllr Glasman said that Dr Mantgani wanted to speak to the vascular surgery review, so the agenda was rearranged and item 6 brought forward. The person … Continue reading “Health and Well Being Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 20/6/2011 – Part 4”

The minutes were agreed.

Cllr Glasman proposed Cllr Roberts as Vice-Chair. This was seconded by Cllr Doughty. There were no other nominations so Cllr Roberts was elected as Vice-Chair.

Cllr Glasman said that Dr Mantgani wanted to speak to the vascular surgery review, so the agenda was rearranged and item 6 brought forward.

The person introducing the report said he had come in March and this was an update on progress. In respect of what he’d said in March there had been public and professional engagement. There had been meetings for public and staff as well as a consultation document and internet survey. There was a tension between providing services locally and a higher volume less locally. The consultation had gathered views on patient safety and local access. An arterial centre would be recommended to the Project Board. He also referred to a meeting with the GP consortia.

The recommendation to the Project Board would be on the collaborative proposal of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. He was delighted to see evidence that the application met the quality standards and had a large enough catchment area. However a number of clinical issues had not been fully resolved especially clinical capacity. There werea list of questions and the issue had surfaced in the media in the last few weeks regarding surgeons at Arrowe Park Hospital who he described as “dissident clinicians”. On Thursday morning they would meet with clinicians and managers and go through the responses. He couldn’t recommend the proposal until the uncertainties had been resolved.

Health and Well Being Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 20/6/2011 – Part 3

Howard Cooper said the financial difficulties of the company stemmed from 2006-2008 when it had sold its properties and leased them back. Its cost base was high and the numbers going into residential care had gone down. Therefore its business projection had been flawed. The good news was that this position was recognised by the landlords. The landlords had agreed to a 30% reduction to October 2011 which included the Wirral. Whilst the business was being restructured the existence of the homes was not threatened and they had received assurances that in the worst case scenario the company would end up in the hands of the administrators.

Cllr Glasman asked if people were happy and had any questions. A councillor asked what had happened to the suggestion that Wirral Council open its own homes. Howard Cooper replied there were no plans. The councillor said they were reassured by that. Howard Cooper said there was no need to do so. Scientists have studied the impact of the widely used cephalosporin antibiotics at the https://summitps.org/antibiotics-online/ on brain activity. These medications occupy one of the leading positions among antibacterial preparations. They affect a wide range of bacteria and easily penetrate into the tissues. Therefore, they are often used in hospitals. However, sometimes they can cause epileptic seizures in patients. He repeated there was no need to do so. He said Southern Cross with six homes and 450 beds was the biggest provider on the Wirral and couldn’t be ignored. Whether Wirral Council ran its own homes or not was a secondary question as the existing homes were not full. They had signed a contract and continued to place people in homes confident in the continuity of care and provision.

Cllr Roberts said a constituent of hers had had respite care until February 2011, but none since then. He was thirty-four and it was in reference to his mother. The person was at the end of his tether and had thought of taking it further. Howard Cooper suggested she talk to Chris or his colleagues and they would look into it. He did say there had been a steady stream of concerns of this sort. It was certainly true that it was the time of highest demand and part of the reason was the personalisation agenda.

Health and Well Being Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 20/6/2011 – Part 2

Howard Cooper continued stating that services had been commissioned at Girtrell Court and Silverdale (or did he mean Sylvandale?). They were investing capital and making a cosmetic refurbishment. The plan was to do a substantial refurbishment in the interests of energy efficiency. To meet demand they would like to have provision available. A small number of providers had retained the employment of people who had planned to leave under the EVR/VS in June. There were proper handover arrangements. For interim care in Poulton House and Pensall House they had commissioned external providers to undertake the work: Hoylake Cottage, Park House and Grove House.

For those who were new to the committee he explained that interim care referred to those who had been discharged from hospital and was for six weeks (which he then corrected to four weeks). It was an extra backup and due to the nature of the clients had to be accessed rapidly. There was also the reablement and support at home from the HART service.

On the subject of Southern Cross he was happy to give a detailed summary to be appended to the minutes. He was however conscious that some of the numbers were not exactly right. There had been extensive coverage about Southern Cross. There were two sorts of concerns, quality and concerns relating to the financial position of the company.

Health and Well Being Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 20/6/2011 – Part 1

The new Chair Cllr Glasman welcomed people to the meeting, she asked for any declarations of interest or declarations of party whip. There were none so she asked people to introduce themselves.

Sue Lowe why the resolution passed at the last meeting (below) had not resulted in a report on this meeting’s agenda or an agenda item referring to it.

Committee recommends to Cabinet that the current process of change should continue with all due diligence for the best interests of service users and their carers, ensuring that the quality of service is maintained or improved, and that a progress report be brought to the next scheduled meeting of this Committee.

Howard Cooper apologised there was not a report but said he would give a verbal update.

Cllr Watt said it was an important report that the previous committee had requested. Howard Cooper went into detail about the changes, starting with residential care for vulnerable adults after the Cabinet resolution. He said there were tender arrangements made for older people last year. 85% of providers had tender for the work at the new rate of fee. Roughly half the providers (but the wording varied) had been reluctant to accept the new fee. There was the potential for legal action, however Wirral Council’s view was that the contracts were provided at a price, therefore the providers were bound by the contract. These contracts continued to exist.

People’s needs had been assessed and placements found at homes. They had contracts for the full range of services and had not yet received a legal challenge. There was a fall of business for residential and nursing care provision. Short break respite placements were continuing in homes contracted for this purpose to meet demand. This time of year (between the school holidays and the Spring) was the peak time for demand. There was also short break provision for people with learning disabilities which had previously been provided at Mapleholme.

Area Forum – 8/6/2011 Bidston & Claughton, 8/6/2011 Library, University Academy Birkenhead (formerly Park High) Part 6

Gary Cummings (Streetscene) said they could build out with chicanes and that because of the “20 is plenty” campaign sometimes a road was left for the emergency services eg police and ambulance. He would look at the alternatives, however it didn’t have to be humps. They could look at signing and speed activated signs.

A member of the public raised the issue of the roads in Noctorum and how dangerous it was when getting a bus. They had speed cameras, buut they didn’t seem to do anything. They had been told they can’t afford anything more. There was another slow sign and they had lived there three years. Cllr Foulkes said there had been an automated speed sign.

A member of the public asked about Park Road South. Cllr Foulkes said due to buses and ambulances there were no humps here. He referred to the lady from Sumner Road being against speed bumps and said the speed of traffic in Tollemache Road was a significant nuisance. Cllr Davies said it was a clear road.

John Brace raised about concerns raised at the Bidston Village Conservation Area committee about the speed of traffic on Bidston Village Road. Cllr Foulkes responded.

Michelle Gray said there was £200,000 for road safety, £20,000 of which would be decided by this Area Forum under You Decide. Whatever was needed in the local area, she could liase and feed back to the Forum and to councillors. Streetscene needed a list of roads and footways that needed maintenace.