Agenda item

Members are asked to consider a paper which provides an overview to the NHS response to the pandemic and includes work being delivered by a wide range of NHS partners.

Discussion:

Members considered a paper which provided an overview to the NHS response to the pandemic, including work being delivered by a wide range of NHS partners.

The Executive Director for Health Improvement/Chief Operating Officer of the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) introduced the report and highlighted the way the NHS bodies locally had worked as a team in response to the pandemic and to deliver the vaccination programme. The whole system was under pressure and was looking to see how things could be done differently.

Members discussed the following issues:

·       Vaccination programme – the difference between first and second dose uptake in Cohort 1 and also the differences in doses by vaccination centre were queried. Members were advised that some people had received their second dose in a different venue to the first. Recording of where vaccines were administered was now more sophisticated and Members were assured every dose was recorded and there was no double counting. Some people had opted to go to a primary care centre to avoid travelling to one of the further away vaccination centres. In response to a point that there should be a dedicated vaccine workforce, the CCG accepted this in principle but noted the model was moving towards vaccination centres which were less clinically led.

·       GP appointments – with regard to the large number of appointments classified as unknown and what was being done to respond to concerns about the public accessing GP surgeries when the entrances were often physically closed, Members were advised the numbers classed as unknown were large, but this had been higher in the past. The CCG acknowledged it was more difficult to access GP surgeries than before and was working with surgeries on new ways to make them more accessible to the public. The CCG was also looking at how to avoid people discharged from hospital going to their GP for medicines. In response to a point that about 40% of people accessing GP services could be seen by someone other than a GP, it was noted that this had been a long-time ambition and whether the workforce was in place to achieve this was questioned. A comment was made that the triage system could be risk averse and often advised people to see a GP. The CCG accepted there was not sufficient capacity in primary care and was trying to mitigate this. An undertaking was given to try to provide a breakdown of GP appointments in Medway in future reports.

·       Cancer patients – the vaccine strategy for this group was queried and the CCG clarified that all cancer patients were being contacted and the vaccine take up rate was impressive. Trusts had worked well so these patients’ pathways were not disrupted.

·       Vaccine equality – an undertaking was given to provide Members with the data behind this.

·       Private health companies – concern was expressed about private companies promoting a free appointment with a private doctor as this could result in a person being delisted by their GP practice. It was felt the implications should be better explained to the public. The CCG agreed on the importance of people being aware of the implications of their choices.

·       GP registration figures – in relation to the vaccination programme, the numbers of people not registered was requested. The CCG clarified that GP registration was not required in order to be vaccinated.

·       Prehabilitation– improving a person’s mental and physical health before surgery was suggested as a priority and whether the CCG worked with the Council’s public health team on this was queried. The CCG responded that there were resources available for people to help with this, accepting much  of this was online which would not be suitable for everyone. The CCG worked closely with public health in Medway and Kent to identify these challenges.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the report.