Issue - meetings

Kelvin Hankins, Deputy Director and Lead for Ageing Well, Barking and Dagenham Place Team, NEL ICB, presented an update on the progress made in the mobilisation of this year’s winter planning arrangements.

Mr Hankins referred to the pressures on health care services that typically arose over the winter period and the unique problems caused during the coldest periods.  Those unique pressures were being experienced at the moment and were compounded by ongoing industrial action.  Despite that, there had been progress in several areas compared to national standards and he referred, as an example, to the four-hour national standard between patients attending emergency services and being seen. Both King George’s Hospital (KGH) and Queen’s Hospital (QH) experienced dramatic improvement and were almost at the national revised standard (post-Covid) of 76%.  Significant improvement had also been experienced at the Borough’s Urgent Treatment Centres (UTC), with the Barking UTC reporting a 95% achievement level.

Regarding the London Ambulance Service (LAS), Category 2 response times for the North East London area had improved to 43 minutes, although it was acknowledged that further work was necessary to continue positive progress. Schemes such as REACH, whereby LAS crews were able to contact a central coordination of consultants and senior clinicians to discuss patient management, were also helping to reduce the number of patients needing to be taken to hospital.

The Winter Plan actions and priorities were also discussed. There were no significant risks detected, and it was highlighted that UTC or non-emergency, NHS 111 services patients could attend any available winter hubs for support. However, there was no national funding for respiratory hubs, and winter hubs were introduced through other funding. Other aspects that were highlighted included the availability of additional funding to launch a reablement service in the Borough, and the winter communications and engagement plan going live in November, which had been received well by residents.

Councillor Worby expressed the need for more concise, easy-to-understand communications on the free services available for the public, particularly for the elderly population, and referred to the ‘risk of falling’ discussions and mitigation steps. Reduced waiting times were positively received, but clarification was sought on the plans for continual improvement in the context of a growing population in the Borough. Mr Hankins advised that the ICB sustainability case model considered the increasing rate of population and their needs, especially for complex patients in primary care which was highlighted by Dr Shanika Sharma. Further, the handover from ambulance services was currently 30 to 45 minutes within the Borough against the 15-minute national standard; although this had improved, Members requested for continual work to meet the national standard.

Reference was also made to some local residents choosing to attend the Emergency Department at Newham Hospital or even the Royal London Hospital (RLH) instead of KGH or QH, could be down to perceived shorter wait times and/or better accessibility via public transport on the Elizabeth Line.  Mr Hankins clarified the usage of NH and RLH and advised that most local residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32