3rd March 2023 at Champions Manor Hall
Present:
Peter Blackman (Chair)
Jo Alexander, Essex Child & Family Wellbeing Service
Councillor Bob Massey Essex County Council, Chelmsford City Council, Town Council
Councillor Lisa Kelly, Town Council
Councillor Murrough O’Brien, Town Council
Councillor Annie Humphrey, Town Council
Barbara Wood, Kingsway PPG
Linda Denton Greenwood PPG
Carol Laker, SWF Christian Council
Jon Morter, SWF Social Media
David Birch HSCG Vice Chair
Jackie Birch Town Councillor and Minutes Secretary
Guests:
Sir John Whittingdale MP & Dan Doherty, Alliance Director, Mid Essex, Mid & South Essex ICS
Context of this meeting:
SWF Health & Social Care Group (SWFH&SCG) had been very aware of, and most seriously concerned about, the critical situation which our local health and social care services had been in recently.
The agenda was to discuss four key actions to address experiences of our patients and public:
- Explain that unlocking the blocked hospital beds will significantly reduce pressures on ambulances, A&Es and GPs;
- Say strikes make things worse and negotiations must be held;
- Ask when St Peter’s Hospital will be replaced one way or another as it is no longer fit for purpose;
- Support his call for an effective independent or public inquiry into our Mental Health Services, particularly at The Linden Centre, Broomfield; and,
- Explore ways to improve the present experiences of SWF’s patients and public, particularly those with long waits for hospital and other referred treatments, long waits in A&E, long waits for ambulances and difficulties getting GP Practice appointments.
1. Unlocking blocked hospital beds
Problem is that people are being kept in hospital when they are well enough to be in Care Homes or be cared for at home. This puts pressure on Ambulances, A&E, GPs and others. There is an increase of hospital beds available over last year – 100,101 (90,621). But 13,000 are blocked. Andrew Pike, Chief Operating Officer, has done a great job in reducing ambulance queues at our three local acute hospitals. Staff shortages in Care Homes are a major contribution to the problem. It takes three years to train new nurses and paramedics, five to train new doctors, but only weeks to train new care staff. However, they need to be better paid than they can get stacking supermarket shelves.
Sir J W.
Government agrees that unblocking is key. The Health Secretary announced a financial package for the Care Sector two weeks ago. Funding is through the Local Authority and they have been asked to identify their needs. Essex County Council have conducted an exercise to ascertain the problems of the local providers. Sir John has received complaints of lack of funding particularly from the rural areas who feel that there is a postcode lottery for funding.
DD
The key is to try and avoid people going into hospital unnecessarily as often they decondition. Patients fare much better in their own homes so the answer is to get more domiciliary care. Also unpaid carers need more help from domiciliary care.
2. St Peter’s Hospital
There are lots of rumours about the future of St Peters.
DD
SWF has not been invited to any working parties because there have not been any. SWF will be invited when they start. The plan is to replace St Peter’s component parts. The main parts will move to a Wycke Hill site. There have been issues about the relief road but the local council and the County Council have been supportive. Blackwater Surgery likely to go there. Some branch surgeries will also be improved. This all needs full buy-in by GPs. Moves may be impacted by two national reports on Maternity services. There were concerns that some women were having babies in Midwifery led services, that should have been in consultant led beds in hospitals. St Peter’s has a midwifery led maternity unit and so may be affected by the conclusions of the reports.
The St Peter’s building and land are owned by Mid & South Essex Hospital Group. The future may be to sell it off but alternatively the site could be used to provide key health workers’ housing.
Sir JW
has been helping things along. There have been a few obstacles in Maldon. The vision is for the opening of a new Heybridge Practice. The vision also includes a new Health Centre in Heybridge as well as the relocation of the Burnham Surgery to a new facility in the Burnham Waters development. He is determined to press on to get better services for Maldon and the Dengie.
3. Mental Health Services
Concerns have been raised that the Inquiry into local Mental Health Services should be made public in the light of lack of staff willing to contribute.
Sir JW
There is a need for statutory powers and he will support the move.
PB
I think the report will make national news.
4. Strikes
The point was made to Sir JW that negotiations must be held to resolve the strikes to avoid further disruption of the NHS.
5. Attendees input
Q. Will Crouch Vale Medical Centre cope with the extra patients generated by proposed new developments?
A. The Centre was built with the knowledge at the time (pre-pandemic) of the development plan and will cope with that influx. Following Covid, some functions (likely administrative services) may need to be moved elsewhere to enable extra GP capacity and this is already being planned.
Q. We were promised lots of diagnostic services. Will Crouch Vale become a mainstream diagnostic centre?
DD: There is to be one at Braintree. It is unlikely that CT or MRI will be housed at Crouch Vale. The services at Maldon are subject of present consideration
Q. Can anything be done about long pharmacy waits at the hospital? Patients on wards can get a consultation leading to discharge and then have to wait for up to 8 hours to get medication from the pharmacy before being able to leave.
PB: It had just been announced that a new mobile service will start operating at the Mid & South Essex hospitals in the next two weeks, taking dispensing trolleys around the hospitals. This should radically reduce waiting times for inpatients and hopefully the reduced demand at the dispensaries will speed up dispensing for out-patients..
JM explained the work that he had done with social media in the Covid pandemic. The County Facebook Group had reached across Essex and additionally helped with Mental Health and latterly Cost of Living.
PB: Thanked Jon for his work and his recent assistance in the local aspects of the Nicola Bulley case. He said that social media could get to people who were unlikely to look at ECC or NHS websites.
Q: Asked about Virtual Wards.
DD: Virtual wards are up and running in Mid Essex. They tend to be for Frailty and Respiratory patients. There are virtual patients in SWF. Local virtual wards have released 16 hospital beds.
Q: About Carers Allowance
PB: Summarised the following details subsequently found:
Carers Allowance is £69.70pw April 2022-23 and will be £76.75pw 2023-24.
“The person you care for must already get one of these benefits:
Personal Independence Payment – daily living component
Disability Living Allowance – the middle or highest care rate
Attendance Allowance
Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Child Disability Payment – the middle or highest care rate
Adult Disability Payment – daily living component at the standard or enhanced rate
Your eligibility
All of the following must apply:
you’re 16 or over
you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone
you’ve been in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 2 of the last 3 years (this does not apply if you’re a refugee or have humanitarian protection status)
you normally live in England, Scotland or Wales, or you live abroad as a member of the armed forces (you might still be eligible if you’re moving to or already living in an EEA country or Switzerland)
you’re not in full-time education
you’re not studying for 21 hours a week or more
you’re not subject to immigration control
your earnings are £132 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and expenses
It was noted that the earnings regulation is the main limiting factor.
Close:
Sir John kindly noted all of the above.
Dan Doherty also noted all of the above.
Peter thanked Sir John and Dan for their time and involvement, and asked them to do all they can to continue supporting the health and wellbeing of the people of South Woodham Ferrers.
They also thanked all the attendees for their time and contributions.
SWF Health & Social Care Group 