Agenda and minutes

The apologies of Councillors Greenhalgh and Renyard were noted.

Councillor Gravatt declared that his wife was employed as a doctor at University Hospital Southampton.

Councillor Kenny declared that she was a Governor for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and a member of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The Panel noted the declarations of interest and considered that it did not present a conflict of interest in the items on the agenda.

RESOLVED that Councillors Gravatt, and Kenny would be involved the discussion of the items on the agenda.

The Chair noted that Harry Dymond who had been an active member and chair of Healthwatch Southampton for many years had passed away and a memorial service would be held on 24th March 2025 at the Holy Trinity Church in Winchester at 14.00 for anyone who wished to attend.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2024 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Panel meeting on 5 December 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, updating the Panel on the pressures and performance at University Hospital Southampton.

The Panel considered the report of the Chief Operating Officer, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, which updated the Panel on the pressures and performance at University Hospital Southampton (UHS).

Jo Teape, Chief Operating Officer, University Hospital Southampton; James Roach, Director of Primary and Local Care, NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight (NHS HIOW); Natasha Taplin, Director of System Performance and Improvement, NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight; and Councillor Finn, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  Since September 2024 the average number of attendees per day at the Emergency Department had been around 450.

·  UHS has manged the increased demand in the short term by allocating extra staff to wards and opening clinics for extra hours in the evenings and at weekends, but this could not be sustained in the longer term.

·  UHS had decreased the length of stay for patients requiring urgent care by 8% in the last quarter but demand was still high and patients were experiencing long waits in the Emergency Department.

·  UHS is committed to releasing ambulances and, at busy times, patients queue in a designated corridor in the Emergency Department rather than an ambulance.  This is not ideal and UHS want to eliminate corridor waiting without increasing ambulance waits.

·  The waiting list for planned care is over 60,000.  This compares favourably to most teaching hospitals.

·  At the date of the meeting there were 241 patients in the hospital that were medically optimised for discharge.

·  UHS maintained a good joint working relationship with SCC but there were still delays in the system for planning discharge. Straightforward packages of care can be sourced within 24-48hrs but reablement support can take a week.

·  Consistent pathways and standardised processes across South West Hampshire were supported by UHS.

·  SCC, UHS and NHS HIOW were developing a single discharge planning model for the whole system for frail and vulnerable adults.  Planning discharge from day one in hospital was a challenge for medical staff whose primary role was care for patients, especially when wards were busy.  Delays in discharge tended to occur when individual patient circumstances were complex and practical support outside of hospital was required.

·  There had been an increase in violent and abusive behaviour towards staff, particularly in the Emergency Department and the security presence in the department had to be increased among other measures to support staff safety and morale.

·  UHS benchmarked particularly well compared to other hospitals, the area of greatest concern was managing delays for patients to access appointments or emergency treatment as these were the areas that continued to see persistent high demand.

RESOLVED 

The Panel thanked the workforce at UHS for their hard work in challenging circumstances and made the following recommendations:

1)  That the Panel urged UHS and the Council to continue to work together to improve outcomes relating to the number of patients that do not meet the criteria to reside in hospital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Panel considered the reports of NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight which provided the Panel with an update on Primary Care in Southampton and an update on the development of Integrated Neighbourhood Working models.

James Roach, Director of Primary and Local Care, NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight; Josie Teather-Lovejoy, Deputy Director for Primary Care in Southampton, NHS Hampshire & Isle of Wight; and Councillor Finn, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  Access to Primary Care was at a record high, including more face to face appointments in Southampton due to the multi-disciplinary practitioners employed across partnerships.

·  Demand for appointments was increasing, characterised by an increase in complexity, an increase in respiratory health issues and an increase in frail and vulnerable patients who present frequently to services.

·  Primary Care needs to continue to modernise and transform to manage demand and improve outcomes.

·  The national Primary Care Access Recovery Plan was a driver for investment in the digital infrastructure, such as digital access routes for appointments and employing clinical call handlers to improve access.

·  Shirley Health Partnership had opened a new modern health and treatment centre on the high street which brought teams together and maximised the same day access model.

·  Pharmacies were playing a key role in Southampton in preventing ill-health and were relieving pressures on GP services.

·  The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment identified that the distribution of pharmacies across the city was sufficient.

·  Integrated Neighbourhood Working (INW) focussed on how services reached residents and aimed to provide better access to services in the community.  Services would be co-located in community hubs that would maximise the use of existing health and medical facilities.  There would be consistency of approach and clinical practice standards in all areas but there would be a variation in focus for each neighbourhood depending on the evidenced needs of local communities.

·  INW will initially be based on the existing primary care network boundaries, this will be reviewed. Plans were being developed to address the challenges of digital data connectivity, employment of staff, location of services and allocation of resources.

RESOLVED  That, reflecting the importance of the approach to delivering improved health outcomes and proactive care, and the draft nature of current proposals, the Panel would receive an update on Integrated Neighbourhood Working at a meeting of the Panel in 2025/26 when a more detailed plan was available.

The Panel received and noted the report of the Scrutiny Manager which enabled the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel to monitor and track progress on recommendations made at previous meetings.