Agenda item

This report seeks to provide the Committee with an overview of Medway Community Healthcare’s current position in relation to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, and current position of community health services provision.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which provided the Committee with an overview of Medway Community Healthcare’s (MCH) current position in relation to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, and current position of community health services provision.

The Director Operations at MCH introduced the report and highlighted the following:

·       MCH had maintained its governance structures throughout the pandemic.

·       Levels of PPE equipment remained very good and MCH had not had to ask for mutual aid.

·       Staff sickness levels remained high with 4.77% of absences being Covid-19 related.

·       Lateral flow testing of staff provided an important assurance to both staff and the organisation.

·       Soft intelligence suggested that almost 50% of staff had received their first vaccination.

·       Some clients were waiting for more than 18 weeks but were clinically triaged to make sure they were safe and not urgent.

·       Partnership working had been a particular highlight with reduced bureaucracy and new ways of working being trialled relatively quickly to keep up with the pressures in the acute sector.

·       Bed provision at Harmony House had been increased to 16.

·       The urgent response model had been adapted to introduce more of a varied skills base, such as GPs working on shift and staff working within wards at the hospital to identify patients who could be supported in the community.

·       The new falls/frailty car had helped take some pressure off the ambulance service.

·       Staff had been sent to the Emergency Department to help support triaging when there had been a build-up of ambulances. This had proved to be successful and MCH were looking to see how to continue this on a more planned basis.

·       There was a virtual Covid-19 ward where people in the community were monitored.

Members raised the following issues:

·       Waiting lists – reference as made to the high number of people waiting less than 18 weeks and how long people in this group were waiting was queried. There was a need for more resources to reduce waiting lists. The Director Operations advised that the number of people waiting less than 18 weeks was consistent. Whilst the numbers seemed large, many were waiting less than 6 weeks. Future reports would break these figures down into more detail but the numbers of people waiting more than 18 weeks was in the region of 20-22. MCH’s Managing Director added that MCH would be examining what harm had been caused by waiting lists and lessons would be learned.

·       Triage at Emergency Department – MCH’s involvement with this was welcomed but it was queried what was being done to encourage people not to unnecessarily visit the Emergency Department (ED). The Director Operations advised two skilled nurses had been deployed to ED to support and Medway Foundation Trust colleagues. There had been a significant increase in referrals to MCH from the ambulance service. MCH were looking how they could support this on a more regular basis during peak pressures.

·       Falls/frailty car – whether this was part of the frailty pathway project was confirmed, in response to a question, but Covid-19 had necessitated its immediate roll out. There was a need for a longer-term plan to fully embed it and make it known across all services. It was only operating in Medway at present, but it was hoped it could also operate in Swale. The point was made the car should work closely with the Council’s disabilities adaptation team so the latter could identify what improvements could be made in homes to avoid falls. The Director Operations advised that this was discussed across the system and was well supported.

·       MedOCC – whether people attending were given appointments times to limit their stay in MedOCC was questioned. The Director Operations commented that the 4 hour waiting time target had not been breached in some time. Patients were asked to stay in their car until they were ready to be seen and for those who could not do so, efforts were made to keep numbers in the waiting room to a minimum.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the report and that future updates would include more details on waiting lists numbers.

(In accordance with Council Rule 12.6, Councillors Adeoye, Murray and Price asked that their votes in favour be recorded.)