Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

46.

APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

The former Vice-Chairman, Cllr Philip Normal, is no longer a member of the Joint Committee.

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the former Vice-Chairman, Councillor Philip Normal, was no longer a member of the joint committee and therefore it was necessary for a new Vice Chairman be appointed. Councillors Mark James and Marianna Masters both expressed an interest in the Vice Chairmanship. 

 

RESOLVED that Councillors Mark James and Marianna Masters both be appointed as Vice-Chairmen.

47.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Robert Mcilveen from LB Bromley, and Councillor Gareth Allatt attended as substitute. Apologies were also received from Councillor Chris Lloyd from RB Greenwich and Councillors  John Muldoon and Liz Johnson-Franklin from LB Lewisham.

48.

DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS AND DISPENSATIONS

Members to declare any interests and dispensations in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

Councillor Richard Diment declared an interest as a governor of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

49.

NOTIFICATION OF ANY ITEMS OF BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR DEEMS URGENT

In urgent circumstances, an item of business may be added to the agenda within five working days of the meeting.

Minutes:

It had been drawn to the attention of the Chairman that the Committee's terms of reference were in need of being reviewed and updated. It was suggested that members give direct instructions to officers concerning this, and then a redraft could be drawn up.

 

The Chairman expressed the view that matters often came to the Joint Committee late in the day, and it would be preferable if issues could be drawn to the attention of the Joint Committee for scrutiny at the pre-consultation stage. The Chairman reminded members that the Joint Committee did not have decision making powers, but nevertheless it would be good if the Joint Committee could make  comments and recommendations at an early stage, offering a strategic overview from the various London Boroughs represented on the Committee.

 

Councillor Diment considered that, just as CCGs had moved on and had been restructured, the JHOSC should be restructured and undertake a different role.

 

Councillor James expressed the view that the primary level of scrutiny should still be maintained and undertaken by the local boroughs. He said that it should be made very clear in the new terms of reference what matters should come to the Joint Committee for consultation/consideration. His understanding was that the Joint Committee should be focusing on matters relating to service change, and he welcomed input and comments from NHS colleagues regarding this.

 

Andrew Bland suggested using a template for the terms of reference that would make clear what was the responsibility of individual boroughs. Mr Bland agreed with Cllr James that the primary issue for the Joint Committee to deal with should be matters relating to service change. 

50.

MINUTES - 25TH SEPTEMBER 2019 pdf icon PDF 351 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 25th September 2019.

 

Minutes:

The Joint Committee noted that since the last meeting a workshop had been held on 30th October 2019 to discuss issues of concern about the CCG merger and how this affected scrutiny and the JHOSC. 

 

The Chairman referred to a note in the minutes of the previous meeting relating to the South East London engagement process for the NHS Long Term Plan that BAME people were not well represented in the engagement process. Christina Windle responded that the concern at the time had been to ensure that there was widespread engagement with people across all the boroughs; an Equalities Committee had been set up and they were looking at engagement processes and working with Councils to support more diverse engagement in future. The Chairman commented that in Bromley the primary demographic taking up hospital beds were the over 65’s, so the focus was different depending on the borough, and it was important therefore that engagement or consultation took place across all these demographics.

 

The Chairman commented that it would be helpful if a schedule of local CCG board meetings could be disseminated going forward - Christina Windle offered to do this.

 

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 25th September 2019 be confirmed as a correct record. 

 

51.

UPDATE FROM SOUTH EAST LONDON CCG pdf icon PDF 312 KB

i)  CCG Merger and Update

ii)  COVID response and recovery planning

 

Members of the Committee have been asked to notify any specific questions that may not be covered in the briefing in advance.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Andrew Bland attended the meeting to provide an update on the South East London CCG merger.

 

The Committee was informed that the merger had taken place on 1st April 2020; this established the NHS South East London CCG as the formal body for the commissioning of health services for local residents across the six South East London Boroughs. NHS England had approved the merger application without any conditions or reservations. This had been part of a series of mergers nationally, including South West London and North Central London. The first major task of the newly formed body had been to co-ordinate the response to the Covid pandemic.

 

The Joint Committee was pleased to note that, in a relatively short space of time, the six South East London CCGs had merged to form the largest CCG in London, whilst at the same time ensuring a local borough focus for health and social care integration.

 

Mr Bland stated that it was important to maintain borough-based decision-making, as well as decision-making by the merged CCG body and this would be achieved through the work of the borough-based boards and by delegation. Borough-based board meetings were advertised on the merged CCG website in case members of the public wanted to observe the meetings.

 

Mr Bland explained that another important objective for the combined CCG was to promote the development of joined up health and social care. Membership of all of the borough-based boards had been incorporated into a single document for information, and the list was extensive. It brought together health and social care decision makers from the health sector and from local government. It was noted that in four of the borough-based boards joint appointments now existed between both the CCG and the local authority. He expressed the view that considerable strides had been made regarding health and social care joined up working.

 

The Joint Committee heard that another important objective of the merger was to see if providers could work with the CCG in a more blended way - less transactional and more cooperative.

 

It was noted that since 1st April, the merged CCG had undertaken all of its required statutory functions, as well as focusing its efforts on dealing with the pandemic, and also the relocation of staff as required. At the time of the meeting, the severity of the pandemic seemed to have eased somewhat, which had enabled staff to be put back into their normal posts, and to enable more normal business activities to take place. Borough-based boards were working in operation and were considering how to develop and implement borough recovery plans.

 

In terms of governance, the merged CCG was operating on the basis of subsidiarity, so it was anticipated that much would happen at a borough level.

 

The decision was taken nationally for allocations of money to be controlled more at a central level. This had been extended to the first seven months of this financial year which meant that not only could the CCG not make  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

52.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 345 KB

To agree dates for the Committee’s next meetings and identify issues for consideration.

 

A copy of the Joint Committee’s Terms of Reference is attached for reference, and to consider whether any updates are required.

Minutes:

The Chairman suggested that the matter of the recommendations of Professor Kevin Fenton’s report, and the effect of Covid-19 on the BAME population may be something that could be added to the Work Programme.

 

The Chairman felt that there should be a re-focus on mental health issues and that this should also be factored into the work programme. The Chairman asked who was going to lead on the mental health side and was extra money going to be made available for mental health. Andrew Ayers responded that CCGs took investment in mental health services seriously, and they had been directed (for a variety of reasons) to allocate a higher percentage of their funding pro-rata to mental health service provision.