Issue - meetings

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Quality and Integration providing an overview of the Hampshire Wheelchair Service.

Georgina Cunningham- Commissioning Manager, Stephanie Ramsey - Director of Quality and John Richards - Chief Executive Officer (NHS Southampton City CCG) and Crispin West- Director for South East, Alex Underwood – Head of Risk, Governance and Training, Lydia Rice – Regional Manager and Paul Stansfield – Operational Manager (Millbrook Healthcare) were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  How the demand for the service had risen both nationally and locally;

·  Whether the contract had been commissioned using an accurate demand data. 

·  The Panel questioned what steps had been taken to address the emerging shortfall in capacity.  It was acknowledged that there had been an issue in relation to the capacity of the contract but, that future developments would be informed by more accurate data. It was noted that the current contract had already been amended to enable further investigation and assessment of need;

·  The Panel expressed a concern that the waiting periods were too long, especially for children.  It was explained that the process of assessment for a chair or other support such as hoist was often complex and that the provider had now increased the numbers of dedicated specialists in order to address the matter; 

·  It was explained that a previous voucher scheme had been replaced by a national offer of a Personal Wheelchair Budget (PWB) in April of 2019.  The scheme was explained to the Panel and it was noted that vouchers could only be issued for chairs that matched the clinical needs of a patient but, that it was hoped that the PWB would help to reduce the waiting lists; and

·  The steps taken to simplify the process of being able to receive support.  Panel members expressed a concern that the process was too bureaucratic and that the referral system was too complicated.

RESOLVED that the Panel requested the report be brought back to a future meeting in the new municipal year.