To discuss substantive items for scrutiny and inclusion in the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee work programme for the municipal year 2020-21.

The Committee discussed items that were provisionally included in the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee work programme for the municipal year 2020-21.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·           Mr Morley agreed to Councillor Waller’s request that further information on the contracts that were up for renewal be provided to the Committee.

·           Councillor Cross queried why there was nothing specific on the plan about the Rutland Memorial Hospital (RMH). The Chair responded that concerns about RMH had been noted but that currently the consultation on the reconfiguration of UHL was concerned with urgent care and did not include community health and hospitals. When it did, the Committee would keep a very close watch on it.

·           The Joint LLR Health Scrutiny Committee had looked extensively at the consultation document which was due for launch on the 28 September 2020 (Please see link www.betterhospitalsleicester.nhs.uk.). Councillor Waller urged everyone to respond individually to the consultation.

·           Councillor Walters also encouraged people to respond to the consultation and stressed that he had been working with Comms and colleagues in health care to ensure that the message was consistent and reached all residents. The encouragement to respond would not include any indication of how they should respond as it was not the Council’s place to influence opinion.

·           Once the consultation had closed and the responses had been analysed, the various bodies involved would be invited to attend Scrutiny to let the Committee know how Rutland had responded and how this would affect final outcomes. 

·           Councillors Cross and Baines stressed again their concerns about the consultation and any affect this would have on RMH as the services offered there assisted the people of Rutland to live independently for as long as possible.

·           Healthwatch Rutland (HWR) was going to be heavily involved with consulting the public and had already discussed having virtual drop–in cafes to assist with this. They wanted to reach the people who were often underrepresented and would be speaking with for example, the disabled, the elderly, people with dementia and their carers. HWR were also intending to hold an online public meeting for the general public to air their views. If this meeting was oversubscribed an additional meeting would be organised.

·           The pre-consultation business case had stated categorically that there was no dependency of the acute reconfiguration on the community hospitals however in the same document it stated that they were planning for 4,000 outpatient appointments, 600 day cases and 18 hospital and home beds at RMH. There clearly was, therefore, some sort of dependency on there being a community facility in Rutland. Dr Underwood had asked the question about what would happen to all those appointments if RMH was closed and was told that there would still be care closer to home and facilities to accommodate this.

·           Aside from the future of RMH, the other factor that Healthwatch felt would affect most residents was the travel distance because of the plan to close Leicester General and patients therefore having to go to Glenfield, Peterborough Hospital or the Royal Infirmary. Rutland residents were the most severely impacted as far as travel was concerned in the whole of the LLR area.

·           Councillor Walters stated that his priority was to save and enhance the service provision in Rutland but that did not necessarily mean that that would happen within the same building.

·           The Chair reminded everyone that the consultation would be going live on the 28 September and that every household in Rutland would be receiving an information booklet that explained exactly what was under consultation. There were two further meetings of the joint LLR Scrutiny Committee during the consultation period and Councillor Waller and Councillor Harvey, as the two RCC representatives on the Committee, would keep the Committee updated on the discussions relating to the consultation.

·           Flu vaccinations had been raised as a concern at the Joint LLR Health Scrutiny Committee meeting that had been held the day before.  The Chair and Councillor Waller felt that this issue should be brought onto the agenda for the December meeting as there were concerns about the availability and roll-out of the vaccinations especially because of the age demographic of Rutland residents and in light of the approaching second Covid wave.

·           The Committee agreed that the substantial contract for the wellbeing service which would be out to procurement soon, should be discussed by the Committee at an additional meeting. The timing and nature of such a meeting to be decided after consultation with officers.

RESOLVED

That the Committee;

1.    invites representatives from UHL Leicester and those involved in the consultation to attend the December meeting of the Committee to comment on the responses received from Rutland residents and how this would impact on the final decisions taken.

2.     includes on the agenda for the December Committee meeting the issue of flu vaccinations.

3.     holds a special meeting of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee to discuss the contract for the Provision of Community Prevention and Wellbeing Services in Rutland before it goes out to procurement. The timing, and whether the meeting should be held in private session due to the nature of the procurement process, to be advised.