1.         To receive an update on the implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan.

2.         To receive a verbal update on the following key lines of enquiry:

·                     What options are being considered in Torbay to ensure that there is sufficient bed capacity in Torbay Hospital in light of the raising Covid-19 numbers.

·                     What impact closed wards and lack of staff are having?

·                     A number of GP surgeries are unable to provide appointments to patients, what action is being done to address this and to prevent increase pressures on the Emergency Department.

·                     What is being done to ensure to catch up on delayed surgeries and hospital appointments?

·                     What is happening with the Nightingale hospital in Exeter?

(Note:  Liz Davenport - Chief Executive, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Rob Dyer - Clinical Advisor, Devon Integrated Care System, Simon Tapley, Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group & Devon Integrated Care System, Jo Williams, Director of Adults and Community Services and Councillor Stockman, Cabinet Member for Adults and Public Health will be present for this item.)

Liz Davenport, Chief Executive of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Rob Dyer, Clinical Advisor for the Devon Integrated Care System and Simon Tapley, Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group & Devon Integrated Care System provided an update on the progress of NHS Long Term Plan for Devon and responded to questions in respect of the following:

·                     How would they ensure that the proposed changes would have the affect they need to and ensure that patients receive the care that they need.

·                     What were the timescales for the projects within the NHS Long Term Plan.

·                     What was meant by masterclass and who would be invite to them.

·                     The report suggests that you would work with a Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Torbay, Plymouth and Devon on all workstreams, how do you intend to ensure that you involve Torbay in local and placed based issues.

·                     How often would you expect the proposed Joint Committee to meet.

·                     How would you ensure that all Councillors were kept informed so that they could help share information with their constituents on any proposed changes.

·                     How would you ensure effective engagement with all sectors of the community.

·                     How would you help people to feel confident that instead of going to the GP or Hospital there were other solutions that would be right for them.

·                     How would you ensure the voice of the child and their carers and family were taken into account.

·                     How confident was the ICO that working across a larger scale those who need to would fully engage and ‘not be masters of their own castle’.

·                     A number of community hubs were proposed has any decision been made on their location.

·                     People have problems accessing their GP and not all people find the E-Consult process user-friendly, how do we make it easier for people to navigate the available options.  (Members were requested to share any specific examples of GP surgeries where residents were unable to access services for this to be investigated further.)

·                     A lot of people were still waiting for surgery, with the new proposals would patients still be referred to specialist departments for treatment.

·                     New models of care were being developed, what was being done to ensure that they would be appropriately staffed.

·                     Up to 40% of people in the Emergency Department (ED) could have been dealt with in different ways e.g. through use of Minor Injury Units (MIUs) using app technology, how do we make people aware of these options to encourage greater take up and reduce the numbers going to the ED.

·                     Has consideration been given to changing the opening times of the MIU from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm to allow longer opening times on a Friday and Saturday night.

·                     It had previously been proposed to open a new Health and Wellbeing Centre in Paignton, what progress has been made and how were those services currently being delivered.

·                     What action was being taken to free up bed space and increase capacity within the Emergency Department and on the wards to increase throughput and enable more patients to be discharged to appropriate settings for their future care.

·                     How often would you expect to come back to the Board in respect of the projects within the NHS Long Term Plan.

Arising from the questions in connection with freeing up bed space, Members raised concern regarding the number of ambulances waiting outside the Emergency Department and requested the Democratic Services Team Leader to write to the South Western Ambulance Services NHS Trust (SWASFT) to ask them to provide a written statement to the Board on the actions they were taking to reduce the number of ambulances waiting to discharge patients at Torbay Hospital.

Resolved:

1.         that the Overview and Scrutiny Board supports the principle of development of a Joint Committee with Torbay, Devon and Plymouth so that Long Term Plan work that crosses Local Authority boundaries can be considered and scrutinised collectively by each of the Scrutiny Committees in the county; and

2.         that the Overview and Scrutiny Board supports the use of masterclass sessions to undertake a deep dive on the projects within the NHS Long Term Plan to allow focussed time and detailed scrutiny of the data informing the way forward.