No apologies were received.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee held on 24 September 2020 and also the records of the joint meetings with the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee held on 21 and 27 January 2021 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2020 and also the minutes of the joint meetings with the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee held on 21 and 27 January 2021 were confirmed.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations of interest were received.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the Virtual Meetings Regulations (s1 2020 392) and the subsequent RCC Procedure Rules agreed at Council on 20 May 2020 and revised by Council on 14 September 2020. (Please see link: Revision to Virtual Meetings Protocol.)

The total time allowed for this is 30 minutes.  Petitions, deputations and questions will be dealt with in the order in which they are received and any which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting.

No petitions, deputations or questions had been received.

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 218 and No 218A.

No questions with notice had been received from Members.

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No 219.

No notices of motions from Members had been received.

To review items for inclusion in the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee work programme.

The Committee reviewed the Corporate Plan Tracker (added to the agenda as a supplementary item) and discussed possible items for inclusion in the Adults and Health Scrutiny work programme for the municipal year 2021-22.

During discussion the following items were suggested:

i.      The Integrated Care System (ICS) – to understand what it was and what the implications would be for Rutland.

Given its importance the Chair suggested that, in addition to being heard at scrutiny, a briefing session be arranged for all Members. The Director for Adult Services and Health agreed and would look to organise one at a convenient time in May.

ii.    Support given to Adult Social Care, home carers and care homes, post Covid.

Members wished to investigate whether there was sufficient provision, of the right type and in the right place.

iii.   Access to primary care services

Healthwatch Rutland had highlighted the difficulties of getting through to and contacting the GP practices, the negative experience of using NHS 111 services and the issue of digital exclusion.

iv.   Lessons learnt from the Covid outbreak.

Members wanted particularly to hear first-hand from staff members on their experiences, both good and the bad, of responding to the pandemic. There was also discussion on whether any review should be done in the context of RCC as a whole, rather than just the Committee. This would entail looking at the larger picture and considering whether the actions taken were necessary, did they have a benefit, could they have been done more efficiently and what was the cost to RCC.

RESOLVED:

The Committee RECOMMENDED that, in addition to the ICS being added as an item to the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee work plan, that an all Member briefing on the issue be held.

The Committee unanimously resolved to exclude the public from the meeting and move into private session as item 9 on the agenda was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

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The Chair proposed an adjournment and asked Members to rejoin the private session of the meeting at 7.55pm

The public session of the meeting was closed at 7.50pm.

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To receive Report No.136/2021 from the Director for Adult Services.

Discussion on this item was held in private session.

To receive any other items of urgent business which have been previously notified to the person presiding.

Councillor Walters, Portfolio Holder for Health, briefed the Committee on the current situation regarding Lakeside Healthcare Stamford GP Practice where many Rutland residents were registered. Three GPs had left the practice and the Patient Participation Group (PPG) had resigned en masse which had left Rutland patients of Lakeside without a formal voice at surgery level.

As it was a statutory requirement for all surgeries to have a PPG, Healthwatch Rutland had been in touch with Healthwatch Lincolnshire to investigate the situation further.  Lincolnshire Healthwatch had escalated the issue to the Lincolnshire CCG asking for clarification of the situation.

It was proposed that the Chair, on behalf of the Committee, also write a letter to the CCG. This was unanimously approved.

RESOLVED:

The Committee RECOMMENDED that the Chair, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Lincolnshire CCG, copying in Leicestershire CCG, expressing concern that Rutland residents who attended the practice were currently without representation and that the practice had a legal requirement to have a PPG in place. The letter would also extend an offer of help if there should be anything that the Committee could help with.

The next meeting of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee will be confirmed after the Annual Council meeting in May.

The date of the next meeting of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee would be confirmed after the Annual Council meeting.