Agenda and minutes

The Panel noted changes to the membership of the Panel had been made at the November meeting of Council and that Councillor Shields had been appointed to replace Councillor A Bunday on the Panel.

The Chair noted the recent media coverage regarding extreme cold weather and cases of invasive Streptococcus (Strep A) that had caused death in children and invited the Director of Public Health to provide an update on the local response.

The Panel noted that:

·  The Director of Public Health had sent a letter to all schools with information about the symptoms of Strep A and if a child has symptoms, the importance of seeking help from a GP or walk in service as soon as possible so that antibiotics can be started as soon as possible and the importance of staying at home to reduce the risk of passing on the infection.

·  The National Health Security Agency had provided a pack to schools about how to manage any outbreaks.

·  It was important to enable parents to recognise the symptoms early so that antibiotics could be prescribed.  Once a prescription had been issued there were no problems reported with the supply of medicine by pharmacies in the area.

·  The annual cold weather plan had been issued and was at level 3 in relation to the current weather. The plan provided guidance informing agencies what they needed to do to protect vulnerable people during periods of cold weather.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2022 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Panel meeting on 20 October be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System which updated the Panel on arrangements for NHS dentistry following a change in national legislation.

Amanda Kelly, Manager, Healthwatch Southampton; Jo York, Managing Director Health and Care Portsmouth and Integrated Care Board lead for dentistry, pharmacy and optometry (virtual); Dr Debbie Chase, Director of Public Health (virtual); and Councillor Fielker, Cabinet Member for Health, Adults and Leisure (virtual) were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  The national epidemiology programme had stopped and information on need was collected locally from schools’ data and from health assessments.  However, during the pandemic those health assessments had to be paused.

·  Data was collected from dental health services which included children who were registered with a dentist but did not include children who were not registered with a dentist.

·  It was not known how many residents in Southampton are seeing a dentist at least once every two years as data was only available for NHS provision and was not available for private dental provision.

·  Being unable to register with a dentist or to find a dentist they can access was one of the top 5 reasons for people to contact Healthwatch.

·  Healthwatch maintained a list of dental services accepting NHS patients which changed frequently as places that were taking new patients filled up very quickly.

·  The national contract that was introduced in 2006 placed a limit on the level of NHS provision a dentist could deliver.

·  There had been an additional increase in dental health problems following the reduction of appointments that could be delivered in the pandemic due to infection control.

·  NHS England - South East region, have commissioned new contracts in the five areas of greatest need, based upon deprivation, to increase recurrent Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) in these areas. 

·  Reflecting need in Southampton, two new contracts of 21,000 Units of Dental Activity (UDA) had been awarded in the city for subsidized provision.  This will support a new dental service in the west of the city and the expansion of an existing dental service in the east of the city.

·  To deliver the additional 42,000 UDA it has been estimated would require 6 full-time dentists. This may present a challenge as the workforce strategy relied on recruitment of dentistry staff from overseas as the number of national NHS training places did not match the demand for dentistry services.

·  Specialist dental services provided by Southern NHS trust and by hospital providers included Orthodontics, and provision for people with learning difficulties and disabilities.  This detail had not been included in the report.

·  The ICB had developed a local strategy which focussed on 1001 days to get good oral health for children, support for older people and sharing information with place based operational groups to improve understanding of where to direct any new dentistry contracts.

·  Responsibility for the decision on adding fluoride to the water supply  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Panel considered the report of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board which recommended that the Panel noted and supported the direction of travel outlined in the draft Interim Integrated Care Strategy.

Ros Hartley, Director of Partnerships, Integrated Care Board; James House, Managing Director, Southampton Place, Integrated Care Board; Dr Debbie Chase, Director of Public Health (virtual); and Councillor Fielker, Cabinet Member for Health, Adults and Leisure (Virtual) were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  The strategy was built on what was already happening at the level of Place and identified the services delivered locally and where services would benefit from collaboration with other services or from working at scale across a larger area.

·  The priority areas of the strategy were Children and Young People, Mental Wellbeing, Promoting Good Health, Providing Proactive Care, Workforce Development and Digital Solutions.

·  The strategy was needs focussed and provided a foundation for the development of key actions and targets for the partnership to deliver better value for money in terms of services for people.

·  The strategy covered health services, but the integration of care services could be strengthened with more detail on empowering individuals and communities, improving quality of life and collaboration with care services.

·  The Integrated Care Partnership would be set up as a statutory board with agreed terms of reference and regular meetings in the new year.

RESOLVED that the final Interim Integrated Care Strategy would be circulated to the Panel.

The Panel received and noted the report of the Service Director – Legal and Business Services, which updated the Panel on the responses received to recommendations from previous meetings.

The Panel noted that the information requested at the meeting on the 1 September 2022 regarding the Review of Community and Mental Health Services had not yet been provided and would continue to be monitored.

The Panel also noted that the audit of the performance relating to reviews undertaken requested at the meeting on the 20 October regarding the Adult Social Care Performance Update was in progress and would continue to be monitored.