Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Members are asked to declare any interest they may have in any matter which is to be considered at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2023 were confirmed as correct.

The Deputy Director, Primary Care (DDPC), NHS North East London, by way of introduction to the item, stated that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an inspection at the Salisbury Avenue General Practice in Barking on 1 December 2022, followed by remote inspections on 15 and 22 December 2022 and 9 January 2023. The CQC published their inspection report on 11 May 2023, which changed the rating for the Practice from ‘Good’ to ‘Inadequate’.  She then delivered a presentation to the Committee which provided the background to the inspection and the actions that were being taken to improve the Practice.

In response to questions, the DDPC stated that:

·  The Practice’s website would have made its patients aware of the adverse outcome of the inspections. It was not usual for practices to write to patients individually, unless the failings were so serious that the practice would need to be closed;

·  Part of the reason the Practice was not consistently using complaints to improve was down to a lack of clinical leadership in having systems and processes in place to do this, such as bringing all relevant staff together to review significant events, record these properly and the actions necessary to avoid the situation from recurring. The Practice was now working on correcting this to ensure complaints were dealt with effectively;

·  Much of the deterioration within this Practice could be attributed to the turnover in practice managers and the relationships the Practice had with them, which significantly impacted leadership. The Practice had now employed a new Practice Manager to address this. In terms of staff morale, the Practice had undertaken a peer review framework which involved all staff answering questions about their wellbeing and moral and this actually showed that staff morale was in most parts, good. It was anticipated that employing a new practice manager would impact staff moral and wellbeing positively; however, it was important for the GPs to work together with the Practice Manager and also play a part in overseeing staff wellbeing;

·  The huge challenges around capacity in general practice and demand was a national issue, and this Practice along with many others, was doing work around analysing demand to try and adjust their services to match these where possible;

·  Safeguarding was an issue of concern in relation to this Practice and safeguarding leads had been working closely with it to address the shortcomings in its safeguarding policy. The Practice’s safeguarding list was smaller than what was expected for its size, which was a concern. Individuals who were impacted by the shortcomings had been followed up and the safeguarding team had undertaken much work with the Practice to help it overcome these weaknesses, for example, by ensuring it was liaising closely with other relevant agencies so that it was not working in isolation;

·  Currently, formal confirmation that the safeguarding policy was now satisfactory was awaited but progress had certainly been made in this area and the Practice was not deemed unsafe;

·  Medicines management was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration introduced a report on the final version of the Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023-28 Refresh Framework for Delivery, explaining that much effort had been made to ensure the Strategy was accessible to members of the public, but also comprehensive. It discussed the actions Health and other partners would be taking to help to overcome many of the major health challenges the Borough’s residents faced from birth to old age. The Health and Wellbeing Board and the Place Board now met as Committees in Common, and they had signed the document off, which meant that there was commitment from all parts of the system to make the Strategy work. Due to new governance arrangements, holding leaders to account on the Strategy would be easier. She hoped that she would be able to return to a meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee next year to report on progress made on health outcomes as a result of the Strategy. She asked the Committee to note that although progress would not be quick, the Strategy did outline clear pathways to improvement.

Members noted the report on the arrangements relating to the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) and agreed to appoint Councillors Paul Robinson, Michel Pongo and Muhib Chowdhury to the JHOSC for the 2023-24 municipal year. 

The Health Scrutiny Committee is asked to agree the draft Work Programme for 2023-24.

Members agreed the Work Programme for 2023-24.