Agenda item

Winter Planning 2017/18 - Update Report

[Joint update report on effectiveness of actions taken by WCCG, CWC and RWHT to support local systems to prepare for and deliver resilient performance through winter 2017/18.]

Minutes:

Cllr Jaspal welcomed Cllr Johnny McMahon, Chair of Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee, who accepted an invitation to attend the meeting to contribute to the discussion on effectiveness of plans for winter pressures.

 

David Watts, Director of Adult Services, gave a brief introduction to the report on winter planning preparedness from the Council viewpoint and commented on the work done with RWHT to reduce the number delayed transfers of care. The Director of Adult Services commented on the table in paragraph 3.5 which compares the performance of Wolverhampton against a number of different measures.

 

Dr Jonathan Odum, Medical Director, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, gave an overview of the work of done to manage the pressures during winter period at a time of great pressure on the NHS and social care sector. The Medical Director commented that while there was a peak in demand on the service in during November and January there was an improvement in the reducing delays of care as a result of previous planning and work with key organisations to manage the increase in patient numbers.

 

The Medical Director commented that based on published national data for delayed transfers of care, Wolverhampton performance had placed it 52nd out of the 151 local authority areas in England reporting delays in the month of January 2018. The Medical Director advised the panel that he chairs the delivery board responsible for preparing the winter plan. The Medical Director commented on challenges facing the hospital in managing the large cohort of frail elderly with complex health and social care needs and the difficulty in finding alternative suitable accommodation, where patients are considered to be ready for discharge. The Medical Director commented on the work done to learn from current experience and then use this information to review the effectiveness of the winter planning preparedness for 2018/19.

 

David Loughton, Chief Executive, RWHT, praised the performance of the hospital in planning for the increased demand during the winter period.

 

The Chief Executive, RWHT, while welcoming the extra £2 million funding to fund social care and the opportunity to bid for a share of £350 million fund from the NHS. However, there was a need for secure long-term funding to enable health and social services to better cope with the demands during period when demand increase significantly. The Chief Executive praised the support of the coroner’s office to help manage increased number of deaths during the winter period when the hospital facilities were at full capacity.

 

The panel queried if the hospital were planning to provide extra resources to support the work the Rapid Intervention Team.  The Chief Executive advised the panel that an extra £900,000 would be provided by the hospital to increase the capacity and resources of the team.

 

The panel queried if the hospital as part of its winter planning preparation work looked outside the health sector to learn how other organisations manager increased demand during the winter period.

The David Loughton, Chief Executive, RWHT, commented that a meeting in April 2018 has been arranged with a software company that have developed software to manage peaks and flows of passenger numbers at Heathrow airport.

 

The Director of Adult Services added that a detailed analysis is done to better understand the data and to provide a breakdown risk stratification to help improve patient care. The panel were advised that Wolverhampton had been bid for funding from a Government pilot budget of £7 million to deliver shared care schemes and learning that could help other local authorities.

 

The Medical Director commented on the challenges to manging the care of elderly population and supported the decision to fund the work of the Rapid Intervention Team. The issue of the lack of nurses at the hospital with the necessary skills and experience was highlighted as a challenge to meeting the needs of frail elderly patients admitted to hospital. The panel discussed the report that an estimated 190,000 health sector staff nationally will be needed by 2020/21 and expressed concern that not enough people were being trained now across the health sector to meet the expected shortfall in the workforce.

 

The panel discussed the effectiveness of flu vaccination plan.  John Denley. Director of Public Health, explained that type of vaccine selected is based an assessment of what will offer the greatest protection to the population as a whole. Wolverhampton has been cited by NHS England as an exemplar of good practice and should be celebrated as success.  The Director of Public Health added that the aim was for Wolverhampton to be among the top performing areas for vaccination rates in the future.

 

Cllr Johnny McMahon queried the effectiveness of winter preparation plans for Staffordshire. The Chief Executive commented on the performance on the hospital in responding to demand and also the benefits of the extra funding of £300 million capital investment announced by the Department of Health & Social Care that will transform local hospital services to residents living in the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin areas. The Chief Executive commented on the negative impact of recent comments made by Government about poor quality of care at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital on efforts to recruit and retain staff in maternity and accident and emergency services.

 

The Chief Executive advised the panel that the hospital had successfully bid for £9 million to deliver pathway services at a new site, but this will require an extra 600 car parking spaces. The Chief Executive praised the performance of staff at Cannock Hospital for the quality of the minor surgery work and advised the panel that it was only service that achieved 100% in Friends and Family Test.

 

The panel welcomed the report and performance of the health and social partners to manage significantly increased demand during the winter period and to maintain a high standard of service to reduce the number of delayed transfers for Wolverhampton residents.

 

Resolved: The panel agreed to receive a report from Dr Odum on the evaluation and review of the effectiveness of the Wolverhampton Health Economy Winter Plan 2017/18 at a future meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

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