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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.

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.