Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

32.1     None.

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances, including cases where the Committee needs to be informed of budgetary or performance issues affecting matters within its terms of reference, which have emerged since the publication of the agenda.

33.1     The Committee discussed the decision by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to temporarily reduce the Memory Assessment and dementia services provided in West Sussex from January 2024 until the end of March 2024 and to temporarily reduce the number of dementia beds it currently provides in Sussex from 50 to 40.

33.2     The Committee learned that further developments in the NHS since it discussed winter preparedness in November 2023 meant that some providers have had to temporarily reduce services to address safety across urgent care services.

33.3     The Council has asked for more warning of similar decisions in the future and will be monitoring the impact on social care services which benefit from knowing the diagnosis of its customers. 

33.4     The Committee raised concerns around the following: -

·         The effect this will have on those with dementia and their families/carers

·         The knock-on effect on adult social care

·         How the backlog this will create will be cleared

·         What alternative services are being provided

·         How partner organisations and the voluntary sector are filling the gaps caused by this decision

·         Whether the Trust has carried out a risk assessment of its decision

33.5     Resolved – that the Chairman writes a letter to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Sussex raising specific concerns on the recent decision concerning Memory Assessment and dementia services, and request that a member of the Trust attends the Business Planning Group meeting on 7 February to address these concerns.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2023 (cream paper).

34.1     Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2023 are approved as a correct record and are signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is asked to note the responses to recommendations made at previous meetings of the Committee.

35.1     The Committee considered the responses to recommendations.

35.2     Resolved – that the Committee requests that: -

                i.      It receives the different discharge pathways and timescales for each of the hospitals in West Sussex

               ii.      A further Key Performance Indicator on prevalence of smoking in children and young people be extended to include vaping

Report by NHS Sussex.

The Committee is asked to scrutinise access to dentistry and provide any feedback to NHS Sussex.

36.1     The Committee considered a report by NHS Sussex (copy appended to the signed minutes).

36.2     NHS Sussex provided an update on the actions taken to fully understand the barriers to NHS dental access and activities taken to enhance routine and urgent care dental access for people in West Sussex.

36.3     Further updates were provided by the Chair of West Sussex Local Dental Committee and a former NHS dentist in West Sussex. The Local Dental Committee welcomed the engagement with the Integrated Care Board to innovate and work collaboratively in the confines of a national contract. They were attempting to create more capacity in the system by not wasting time and resources on initiatives that don’t work.

36.4     The Committee felt that: -

·         the national NHS dental contract was the cause of many of the problems facing NHS dentistry and needed to be reviewed

·         worsening dental health leads to wider health problems

·         there should have been further support during the transition of delegated responsibility between NHS England to the Integrated Care Boards

·         the business model of dentistry needed to be looked at

·         if people had to pay for private treatment they might not be able to afford other essentials

36.5     Summary of responses to members’ questions and comments: -

·           Actions to address NHS dental access issues in Arun, Chichester and Horsham due to the high number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) lost due to contract hand backs have been put in place including the rapid commissioning of 33,843 permanent UDAs in Adur, Arun and Worthing. Dental providers in these areas submitted an Expression of Interest to deliver a total of 10,000 UDAs. Further work is underway to increase UDA activity in these areas, this includes supporting existing NHS dental providers to over-perform by up to 10% of their contracted UDAs

·           NHS Sussex continues to work with local authority public health teams who are responsible for oral health promotion

·           Primary care dentists are not NHS employees and act as self-employed providers

·           All NHS dental services are open to anyone from any area and people can receive care in any practice able to offer them an appointment

·           Work is taking place to address dental access for patients with the highest clinical need

·           NHS Sussex recognises the barriers to accessing NHS dental services for people from protected characteristic groups

·           NHS Sussex has developed pilot schemes to enhance dental access for people with protected characteristics and/or clinically vulnerable groups which includes, cancer patients, children looked after and care home residents who require specific outreach facilities not provided by high street dental practices

•       NHS Sussex is working on a dental pathway for children looked after, partners include a Paediatric Dental Consultant and Public Health dental consultants

•       New NHS Mandatory Dental Service contracts have been commissioned in areas of greatest need where an NHS dentist has the capacity and workforce to increase dental activity

•       NHS Sussex continues to explore options with the dental profession to increase dental activity to utilise the full  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Report by NHS Sussex.

The report outlines the workforce strategy for NHS staff - the Sussex Health and Care People Plan.

The Committee is asked to assess the Sussex Health and Care People Plan.

37.1     The Committee considered a report by NHS Sussex (copy appended to the signed minutes).

37.2     Summary of responses to members’ questions and comments: -

·         It was felt that the Plan was aspirational without measurable outcomes

·         The Plan takes a system-wide approach and there are a number of related programmes outside of the Plan

·         Actions are measured through the People Delivery Board and an Implementation Plan

·         It was difficult to cover everything in the Plan, such as pensions, secure contracts, recruitment and retention (which is dealt with on a local basis) and industrial action (as this is hoped to be a short-term situation) and concentrates on what could be done in the next three to five years with the resources available

·         The workforce has increased to about 40,000 (not taking into account unpaid workers) and has pushed some providers over their financial envelope

·         Although the number of vacancies in social care is greater in West Sussex due to a higher number of posts, the percentage rate is about the same as neighbouring authorities – the Council is working with providers to fill vacancies

·         NHS Sussex always bids for funding on offer, but is not always successful as in the case regarding funding to help make reasonable adjustments for staff with disabilities

·         Reasonable adjustments are part of the Workforce Retention Plan

·         The voluntary sector has said it can do more to help and be part of integrated community teams

·         The right level of support and benefits need to be offered to women, as they make up 80% of the workforce, in order to retain them

37.3     Resolved – that the Committee asks NHS Sussex to: -

                i.     Share the Implementation Plan with the Committee

               ii.     Share the overarching Implementation Plan that contains more information on time frames, actions and metrics which are designed around internal, detailed reporting

             iii.     Provide year on year staffing figures

             iv.     Share its Workforce Retention Plan with the Committee

Extract from the Forward Plan dated 2 January 2024 – attached.

An extract from any Forward Plan relevant to the Committee’s portfolio published between the date of despatch of the agenda and the date of the meeting will be tabled at the meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider whether it wishes to enquire into any of the forthcoming decisions within its portfolio.

38.1     The Committee considered the Forward Plan of Key Decisions (copy appended to the signed minutes).

38.2     It was clarified that, regarding the decision ‘Contract Arrangements Nursing Dementia Residential Care Beds’, the beds are needed to maintain capacity levels, it was the contract that was coming to an end and needed to be renewed.

38.3     Resolved – that relating to the entry “Contract Award - Day Opportunities, Supported Employment and Volunteering Services for Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism”, more information on “co-production” to be provided.

The Committee to review its draft work programme taking into consideration the checklist at Appendix A.

39.1     The Committee considered its Work Programme.

39.2     Resolved – that the Committee requests: -

                i.     An update on the closure of Zachary Merton Hospital in Rustington be brought to the Business Planning Group meeting on 7 February 2024

               ii.     The Business Planning Group to consider an update on the impact of the closures of Marjorie Cobby House and Shaw Day Services

             iii.     More information to be provided on the reablement contract for people discharged from hospital   

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 6 March 2024 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.  Probable agenda items include:

·         End of December 2023 (Quarter 3) Quarterly Performance and Resources Report

·         South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Update Report

Any member wishing to place an item on the agenda for the meeting must notify the Director of Law and Assurance by 20 February 2024.

40.1     The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 6 March 2024 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Chichester.