Issue - meetings

The Board received the report of the Director of Quality and Integration that outlined the response of health and care services in Southampton to the outbreak of Covid 19.

Stephanie Ramsey – Director of Quality and Integration was present and with the consent of the chair addressed the meeting.

The Board noted that:

·  Covid 19 had created a rapidly changing health situation in the city which had required considerable planning about how to respond and what would be needed in the future;

·  There had been some very positive work as a result of the pandemic including the identification of the possible benefits of discharging people rapidly from hospital admissions in the future, increased telephone consultations and more cohesive working together of different medical services;

·  More people in the city were suffering from mental health issues and the bereavement service had an increased workload;

·  BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) risk assessments would be needed for staff as their likelihood of contracting the virus more severely was heightened;

·  Lockdown in Southampton had reduced the number of infected people within the city but there would be a need to continue to monitor the infection rate (R) and check various indicators to keep track of the R value; and

·  There had been a severe decrease in the general public seeking medical advice, although GP practices had remained open.  It was noted that there was more work to be done on communicating to the public that GP surgeries were open and the process involved to access their GP.