Agenda item

The Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer provided the Committee with a presentation of the following press articles which related to the remit of the Adults, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

•           Plans to cut stroke support service will 'deprive vulnerable people of a        lifeline', charity warns – Evening Chronicle - 03/04/17

Plans to cut support services for stroke survivors once they leave hospital would deprive vulnerable people of “a lifeline”, a charity had warned. Health commissioners had withdrawn funding for the Stroke Association’s Stroke Recovery and Communication Support services in County Durham and Darlington in a cost-saving measure. The Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) for North Durham and Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield are planning to cover the gap by expanding the existing community stroke team.

•           Number of people smoking in North-East hits record low – Northern Echo – 18/06/17

Smoking rates in the North-East had hit a historic low, new figures showed. Smoking rates among adults in the North East fell from 18.7 per cent in 2015 to 17.2 per cent last year, NHS Digital said. There was also a slight fall in smoking rates during pregnancy, from 16.7 per cent to 16 per cent.

•           Maternity services in Darlington, North Tees and Durham facing       temporary closure amid doctor shortage fear – Northern Echo – 17/05/17

Campaigners spoke of their fears that plans to centralise maternity services were set to be brought forward due to a shortage of doctors. County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that changes would be implemented to services in hospitals serving Darlington, North Tees and Durham – but have reiterated that it is only a temporary measure. Campaigners believe that a meeting to decide the location would be made at the end of next month and implemented by the beginning of August – despite consultation on wide-sweeping NHS changes in the region not starting until the autumn.

The Chief Operating Officer, DDES and North Durham CCGs advised that the maternity services had never been closed, even temporarily.  She confirmed that this remains part of the Better Health Programme.

Councillor Bell requested that a report be brought to a future meeting to give an update on maternity services.  He said that a family member had been told that the service would be closing from August so it was not just the press that were misinformed and this concerned him.

The Clinical Director of DDES CCG explained that they had been working very closely with CDDFT to address staff shortages in this field and to maintain the service in Darlington.  He advised that some consultants were carrying out their own jobs but also acting down and taking on the junior doctor role too. 

The Chairman was concerned about the effect on patients and was informed that as long as shifts could be covered the service would continue.

Councillor Darkes asked if there was an action plan in place to remedy the situation.  He was informed that they were dealing with a long term shortage of doctors.  In the short term they were working hard with trusts around the North to work as a network and have a cross over of staff.  The Clinical Director of DDES CCG added that the problem was not just faced in Darlington but was a fragile service across the region.

•           Public urged to have a say in major shake-up of local NHS – Sunderland   Echo 27/06/17

NHS England’s blueprint for change, the Five Year Forward View, were hoping to tackle health service challenges with Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP). NHS trusts around the country are taking long hard looks at what they are doing, in a bid to realign services to better meet local needs. This is about making better use of the staff and facilities the NHS already has. According to the South Tyneside and Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) and South Tyneside and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trusts, services need to be “future proofed”. To do so, they have launched a public consultation on their own STP, called The Path to Excellence. The plan focused on stroke, maternity, gynaecology and children and young people’s services and aims to improve the quality of care being offered across Tyneside and Sunderland. Clinical services would be reviewed and plans on how to improve them formulated. Consultation runs from 5 July to 17 October 2017.

Regarding Maternity services at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Councillor Robinson referred to the birth of his grandchild there and said that the care in Darlington was exemplary but that there was a fear across the unit and the service as a whole and that the recruitment problem was faced nationally.

Councillor Huntington added that recruitment had been a problem for a while and asked why something had not been done to address this years ago. 

The Clinical Director of North Durham CCG said that planning to become a specialist could take ten years and that there was a crisis with a lack of A&E doctors.  He said that the problem had increased as more people were working overseas or working part time.  Councillor Huntington said that once trained staff should have to work for a minimum of five years before they could move on.

Councillor Davinson said that a similar problem was discussed a couple of years ago and a presentation was given at the Committee about recruitment problems.  The Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer said that this had been around paramedic recruitment.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their comments and said that this was a difficult time for the whole of the NHS.