Agenda and minutes

The Chair and the Panel expressed the Panel’s condolences to the friends and family of Sally Denley upon learning of her death and acknowledged the help and support that she provided to the Panel over the years.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th October 2019 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Panel meeting on 24 October 2019 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Quality and Integration providing an update on the Hampshire Wheelchair Service.

Stephanie Ramsey (Director of Quality and Integration – Integrated Commissioning Unit (ICU)), Donna Chapman (Associate Director System Redesign - ICU), Annette Cairns (Clinical and Quality Director – Millbrook Healthcare Ltd), Lydia Rice (Regional Manager – Millbrook Healthcare Ltd), Steve Trembath (Commissioner - West Hampshire CCG), Georgia Cunningham (Commissioner - Southampton CCG) and Joe Hannigan were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  The performance of the service.  The Panel noted that the figures had shown little improvement since the Panel considered the performance of the service in April 2019.  The Panel explored the reasoning why the introduction of the proposed new measures in April had yet to address the delays in receiving a suitable wheelchair;

·  The complexity of patient pathways through the service.  It was explained that a number of different consultations and appointments would be involved in the provision of a wheelchair that matched a client’s clinical need.

·  Workforce issues where explored and it was explained there was a national shortage of specialist rehabilitation engineers and that opportunities to train existing members of staff were limited;

·  The service redesign to try to reduce the level of bureaucracy. Changes to processes that were being developed to enable specialist staff to focus on service delivery rather than administration.

RESOLVED that:

1)  The Panel are provided with performance data that enables comparisons to be made between the performance of the Hampshire Wheelchair Service and other wheelchair services in England;

2)  Given the shortage of specialist rehabilitation engineers, consideration is given to whether there is the potential for regional, sub-regional or STP led NHS commissioning of training programmes to increase the number of trained specialists in this area; and

3)  NHS Southampton City CCG, and partner commissioners, ensure that the contractual model and specifications for the post March 2021 wheelchair service are flexible enough to enable creative solutions to be developed and appropriate collaboration with other service providers to grow.

The Panel considered the report of the Interim Director of Public Health requesting that the Panel consider the draft Southampton Suicide Prevention Plan.

Debbie Chase (Interim Director of Public Health), Amy McCullough (Public Health Consultant), Chris Watts (STP Suicide Prevention Programme Manager), Sabina Stanescu (Public Health Practitioner) and Joe Hannigan were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

Officers delivered to the Panel a presentation which detailed issues relating to suicide prevention within the City.  The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  The potential of using the Council’s planning policies to design in suicide risk reduction measures for new developments at the start of the process;

·  The steps taken to engage with men in their 50’s, a high risk group, and whether there had been any engagement with Trade Unions to proactively target suicide prevention initiatives and advice;

·  That the prevention strategy should reflect and link to measures seeking to combat bullying through social media;

·  Whether the strategy should reflect the potential to target access to over the counter medicines;

·  Whether more could be done linking community support for families to build resilience and raise community awareness and support through locally based teams within the City;

·  The action that had been taken to heighten awareness of the dangers of suicide within services that interact with potentially vulnerable people to ensure that they are able to identify risk factors and make referrals;

·  The importance of ensuring that the prevention plan becomes embedded and that practices are sustained after the initial project work has been undertaken; and

·  The importance of consulting on the draft suicide prevention plan with those agencies that interact with vulnerable people.

RESOLVED that

1)  Consideration is given to including within the Southampton 2020-23 Suicide Prevention Plan reference to the following:

a.  Opportunities to design in suicide risk reduction measures for new developments at the start of the process, potentially through the use of the Council’s planning process.

b.  Reflecting the risk profile for middle aged men, engaging with the Trade Unions to proactively target suicide reduction initiatives and advice.

c.  Social media and bullying, reflecting the whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing in Southampton.

d.  Action to target the over prescribing of over the counter medicines if evidence support this.

e.  Linking the proposals for locality based teams that support families in Southampton with suicide prevention activity to raise awareness of support and build community and family resilience.

f.  Opportunities to expand networks with service providers that interact with vulnerable people when evidence suggests the risk of suicide is heightened, such as debt advice and relationship counselling services, to ensure that they are able to identify risk factors and signpost to support services.

2)  That sustainability is embedded within the Suicide Prevention Plan reflecting the funding limitations.

3)  That the agencies and service providers that interact with vulnerable people when evidence suggests the risk of suicide is heightened are consulted on the draft Suicide Prevention Plan.

The Panel considered and noted the report of the Director, Legal and Governance enabling the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel to monitor and track progress on recommendations made at previous meetings.