Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Members to the virtual meeting of the Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee, held via Webex.

The Chairman noted the National Day of Reflection and led Members in paying tribute to the residents of the Borough who had lost their lives due to COVID-19. A service would take place at the Civic Centre that evening with over 730 candles being lit in memorial. Further tributes were paid to colleagues working in health and social care who had worked unstintingly throughout the pandemic, and continued to do so, and thanks were extended on behalf of the Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

The Chairman informed Members that Sarah Middleton, Head of Stakeholder Relations – King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had recently started her maternity leave and best wishes were sent on behalf of the Sub-Committee. Richard Chew, Interim Director of Communications – King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was welcomed to the meeting.

Members were also advised that Co-opted Member, Mina Kakaiya, had recently left her role at Healthwatch Bromley and Jaime Walsh, Director of Operations for Healthwatch and Engagement Services – Your Voice in Health and Social Care was also welcomed to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Roger Chant.

Apologies for lateness were received from Francis Poltera.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting. 

Questions specifically relating to reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda. Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 17^th March 2021.

Please note that all public questions will be answered by written reply.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14^th January 2021 be agreed.

To follow

Richard Chew, Interim Director of Communications – King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (“Interim Director of Communications”) attended the meeting and provided an update on the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of Jonathan Lofthouse, Site Chief Executive – PRUH and South Sites.

With regards to vaccine hesitancy, the Interim Director of Communications advised that this had been, and continued to be, one of the biggest challenges of the vaccination programme. It was noted that 3% of staff across the Trust had formally declined the offer of a vaccination. The Trust had received over 230 varying comments from the 400 staff who had declined their vaccination offer, as to their reasons for doing so. Around 20% were awaiting their first dose of the vaccine, who had not declined, and over the next seven days they would try and increase the pace and scale of communications to these staff to encourage uptake before the disruption to supply. In response to a question, the Interim Director of Communications said that there were a number of different reasons had been received from staff as to why they did not want to receive the vaccine – there was not a specific theme and it was hard to pinpoint why some were more hesitant than others. It was considered that there may be some staff who wanted to wait a little bit longer to see any effects of vaccine.

The Interim Director of Communications said that the Trust had tried to make the vaccination as accessible as possible for all staff and they were looking at ways to increase this even further. The PRUH had more than 70% vaccination uptake from staff, which it was highlighted was higher than the NHS national average. The majority of staff working there had chosen to be vaccinated and the Trust was looking to learn lessons as to why the PRUH had outperformed other sites. In response to a question, the Interim Director of Communications said that he was aware that other countries, where hesitancy was particularly strong, had suggested offering monetary incentives as part of their strategy to encourage uptake, however this was not something that would be pursued here. The focus would be on reaching out to the communities that were the most hesitant of the vaccine and using trusted voices to encourage them to receive it.

A Member enquired if the Trust would be including the risk of legal challenge, which could arise from situations relating to staff who were not vaccinated caring for patients, within their Risk Register. The Interim Director of Communications agreed to take this back and seek clarity regarding all legal situations that could manifest as part of COVID-19 and a response would be provided to Members following the meeting. The Consultant in Public Health highlighted that the vaccination programme focused on protecting those most vulnerable to the infection, but there was not currently a legal system in place that mandated vaccinations. As it was not yet clear how effective  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Jaime Walsh, Director of Operations for Healthwatch and Engagement Services – Your Voice in Health and Social Care (“Director of Operations”) provided an update to the Sub-Committee regarding the Healthwatch Bromley Quarter 3 Patient Engagement Report.

The Director of Operations informed Members that over 400 reviews had been collated during the Quarter 3 period (October to December 2020) however, this was a shortfall compared to the usual quarterly target. There were several reasons for this, including staff changes and the continued restrictions around social distancing, but it was anticipated that target numbers would be reached during Quarter 4. The Director of Operations advised that nearly 75% of feedback received had been positive. It was noted that the trend being seen in Bromley was replicated in Healthwatch’s other boroughs, with a large increase in both 5-star and 1-star ratings. This was something that had changed over the last year with more 4-star ratings having been received pre-pandemic.

During Quarter 3, a number of comments had continued to be received relating to GP, pharmacy and dental services and it was highlighted that there had been a reduced number of comments relating to hospital services. This was unusual, although it had been a feature over the last year and was an area in which increased feedback was hoped for going forward. Feedback received relating to GPs had included positive comments regarding staff attitudes and quality of service, with more balanced and negative feedback connected to communications and waiting times. These same trends were replicated for pharmacy and dental services.

The Director of Operations said that the Patient Engagement Report had previously been presented to a several large meetings, however during the pandemic a number of these had been cancelled or changed frequency. Going forward, consideration would need to be given as to how discussions around the content of the report could be reinvigorated to ensure “Bromley voices” were heard and any impact or actions made clear. A Member suggested that the next Patient Engagement Report could include an indication of how things had changed over time – previously the overriding feature for negative comments had related to waiting times and it would be useful to see how this had changed over the course of the pandemic.

In response to a question, the Director of Operations advised that Healthwatch’s priority was to get back out into the community as quickly and as safely as they could. During the pandemic they had been required to undertake direct engagement via phone and online sessions. The main feature of the Patient Experience programme was to go and speak with people face to face and they were currently mapping out a return to this, as best they could, in line with the lifting of restrictions. It was a changing picture, but it was hoped that they would be able to reflect on what had happen pre-pandemic and how it had changed throughout the course of the last year. Discussions with providers, to ensure their data and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

The LBB Assistant Director for Integrated Commissioning and Dr Agnes Marossy – Consultant in Public Health, Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) (“Consultant in Public Health”) provided an update on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Bromley.

Members had been provided with benchmarking data across South East London regarding the number of COVID-19 vaccinations delivered as of 11^th March 2021 and 8^th March 2021 for data relating to care homes. The LBB Assistant Director for Integrated Commissioning advised that since this time, the programme had moved forward and around 67% of care home staff had now been vaccinated. The data highlighted that the Bromley vaccination programme was performing strongly – it was noted that Bromley had a larger population that neighbouring boroughs and a substantial amount of people had been vaccinated.

The priorities for the vaccination programme had been set nationally and, starting in December 2020, had focussed on the most vulnerable and those living and working in care homes. Since December, the programme had continued through the first nine priority groups to be vaccinated, with the over 50’s being the most recent cohort called in for their vaccinations. The programme had been working extremely well and a number of vaccination centres and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Bromley had been able to move ahead of the timetable. The groups currently being vaccinated were anyone over the age of 50; care home residents and staff; all adults considered to be Clinically Extremely Vulnerable; those with underlying health conditions; and unpaid carers. There were several designated vaccination sites across the borough, including a Mass Vaccination Site at the Civic Centre.

The vaccination statistics by age group highlighted that more than 90% of people in the older age categories had received their vaccination and good progress was being made in relation to vaccinating those over 60 years old. However, there were issues, as seen across London, with some sections of the community being more hesitant to take up the vaccination offer. The data indicated that people of African and Caribbean heritage were showing greater vaccine hesitancy and plans were in place to help address this. It was noted that three areas of the borough had been identified (Penge, Anerley and the Crays) where more work would be carried out to increase the vaccination uptake.

With regards to health and care staff, the LBB Assistant Director for Integrated Commissioning advised that, although they wanted all those who worked with vulnerable people to be vaccinated, there was still some hesitancy with this cohort coming forward to receive their vaccinations. Around 67% of care home staff had taken up their vaccination offer, and therefore further work would be required to encourage more to do so. A three-tiered approach had been taken to the vaccination of health and care staff. At the beginning of the year, a large amount of information had been provided to employers and managers to enable service leaders to get their staff “on board” with vaccination programme. A range of briefing sessions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Report CSD21044

The Chairman reminded Members that, as the “shape of the world had changed” over the last year, it was agreed at the last meeting that the matters outstanding be removed as they were no longer appropriate.

Members were asked to contact the clerk directly if there were any items that they wished to add to the work programme for the year ahead.

The Chairman noted that this was the final Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting of the municipal year and thanked Members for their contributions throughout the year.

4.00pm, Tuesday 13^th July 2021

4.00pm, Thursday 7^th October 2021

4.00pm, Thursday 13^th January 2022

4.00pm, Wednesday 20^th April 2022

4.00pm, Tuesday 13^th July 2021

4.00pm, Thursday 7^th October 2021

4.00pm, Thursday 13^th January 2022

4.00pm, Wednesday 20^th April 2022