Agenda and minutes

The Chair introduced Members and officers to the meeting

Councillor Graham

Councillor Gantly for lateness

None

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

 (b)Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out

  duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

 (c)Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body

 in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

 (d)Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

 (e)Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

 (f)Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have

  a beneficial interest.

 (g)Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2021 and the informal minutes and recommendations of the meeting held on 31 January 2022 be confirmed and the Chair be authorised to sign them

(b)  That in relation to minute 10 of the informal meeting of the Committee on 31 January 2022, the Director of Public Health be requested to provide the information requested

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

The Chair outlined the procedure for Public questions

None

Frances O’Callaghan, NCL was present and outlined the presentation

During the presentation the following main points were made –

It was stated that Frances O’Callaghan was not present at the meeting that evening and therefore unable to present the report

It was stated that she should be invited to attend the next meeting, however it was noted that there were a number of issues that had been raised at the JOHSC that had also not been responded to. Members stated that these issues should be notified to Frances O’Callaghan for when she attends the next meeting

Dr. Wikum Jayatunga, Public Health Consultant, Camden and Islington Public Health was present and made an presentation to the Committee, copy interleaved

During consideration of the presentation the following main points were made –

·         Diabetes is a life-long condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high

·         There are two types of diabetes Type 1 and Type 2.Type 2 diabetes is the most common, and is associated primarily with excess weight, which is increasing in prevalence amongst the population

·         Diabetes affects 3.8m adults and accounts for 10% of all NHS spending, and these are expected to rise

·         4.8% of the LBI population has a recorded diagnosis of diabetes but it is estimated that around 7.7% of the population has diabetes prevalence

·         Managing the condition is key as it can lead to other more severe problems. This means that 38% of residents may have unknown diabetes. This is important as the condition needs to be managed to alleviate more severe complications and conditions

·         64% of residents have other long term conditions in addition to diabetes, which are mainly hypertension, and heart disease

·         Diabetes risk increases by age and slightly more males have diabetes than females across all age groups

·         Diabetes level are higher in the more deprived areas, in the fifth most deprived areas the prevalence is 8.4%

·         In Islington black and Asian communities are more than double at risk of diabetes than other ethnic groups

·         Risk factors for diabetes include smoking, diet, physical inactivity, weight, wellbeing and healthcare

·         NHS health checks are carried out for adults between 40 -74 years of age. This is to identify early signs of certain conditions, including diabetes

·         COVID has led to delays and reduced activity in carrying out these checks, however from Q2 payments to GP’s have been resumed to carry out these checks. During COVID some cases of diabetes may have been missed or treatment delayed

·         NHS diabetes prevention programme is a programme to identify those at risk of Type 2 diabetes and focuses on exercise, nutrition and an action plan to maintain long term changes. The service has had to adapt during the pandemic and new approaches include self-referral pilot, digital/remote delivery, centralised referral project, and ongoing projects

·         Product examples – centralised referrals highlights specific use of population health data for targeted case finding and reducing health inequalities. From GP health records patients identified to BAME patients who have a long term condition and likely to develop diabetes. Invitations/texts sent to them to

tell them of risks and to contact GP or be referred to NDPP. Referrals increased 70% during the project

·         Diabetes structure education – this is an evidence based education programme for people newly diagnosed with diabetes to determine how they can live with a long term health condition, usually in the form of group based educational courses. Key findings included lack of consistent offer/lack of capacity, unmet linguistic and cultural needs, low quality referrals and lack of awareness, complexity. Recommendations included adopting a hub model, increased  ...  view the full minutes text for item 338.

Graham Caul and Katy Millard, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, was present for discussion of this item

During discussion of this item the following main points were made –

·       Noted that the report updated context on the key factors in relation to the CNWL services in south wing, and addressed concerns from the Committee. Noted that there were 51 beds proposed, not the 54 as stated in the report

·       Noted that work is taking place with Camden and Islington to look at a number of suitable options, and these would be subject to a business case

·       At present Peckwater was the favoured optionandthat a public consultation has already taken place, however service users and residents were still being consulted on proposals

·       Noted that the beds proposed were rehabilitation beds and not mental health beds, and that a gym was proposed for the site

·       Members expressed concern that the Committee had not seen the questions asked in relation to the consultation process, and it was noted that the facility would provide open space for residents. In response it was stated that the consultation process had been led by Camden and Islington. There needed to be a long term solution and options would be subject to a business case decision. There would also be wheelchair provision, GP service, and older adult provision needed at the Peckwater site, and further consultation would take place, however other options could not be ruled out at present

·       Members expressed the view that it would be useful for the Committee to be circulated with the proposed timelines for decisions on the site and when the business plan options were to be considered, in order that this can be scrutinised by the Committee

RESOLVED:

(a)   That details of the timelines for the process, business plan options be circulated to the Committee

(b)   That Members be notified of the latest position on identifying sites and challenges for re-provision of facilities on the site

The Chair thanked Graeme Caul and Katy Millard for attending

Jonathan O’Sullivan, Interim Director of Public Health and John Everson, Director of Adult Social Services was present and outlined the reports

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         In response to a question as to the reason for the target for the number of residents in care homes/residential establishments, it was stated that this was a mainly historical target, however the aim was to encourage, as most residents wanted, for residents to remain in their own home, and not to enter residential care

·         It was stated that there had been slowdown in the MMR2 vaccination rate compared to Q1 and noted the possible reasons for this

·         In response to a question as to what constituted successful drug/alcohol treatment it was stated that this was abstinence from consumption of these substances. Noted that some patients still accessed the service even though they were on substitutes such as methadone for drug use although this was a positive outcome as well

·         Noted that the ‘Everybody In’ initiative had been extremely successful and had identified users who had not entered treatment previously. It had also enabled other needs identified with drug/alcohol use to be dealt with, such as Housing

The Chair thanked Jonathan O’Sullivan and John Everson for attending

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the report be noted

(b)   That it be noted that a meeting to discuss recommendations for the scrutiny review would take place on 28 February 2022 at 5.30 p.m. and that the next meeting of the Committee would take place on 17 March at 7.30 p.m.

Councillors Lukes, Executive Member for Community Safety and Pandemic response, and Councillor Turan, Executive Member Health and Social Care were present for discussion of this item, together with Jonathan O’Sullivan, Interim Director of Public Health and John Everson, Director Adult Social Care

During discussion of the verbal presentation the following main points were made-

·         Concern was expressed at the recent Government announcement that day to lift COVID restrictions and the end of free testing. It was felt that this would place residents, especially those who are immunosuppressed at risk

·         Concern was also expressed that once testing was halted, and there was an increase in foreign travel, there would be an increased risk of an undetected new variant emerging

·         Noted the current figures for COVID in Islington, which were relatively stable at 4%-5%. Hospitalisations had been around 380-400 across NCL, however this had now reduced to 270, and there were only 20 people on ventilators. Deaths were only1 or 2 a week, which was similar to normal deaths at this time of year

·         Noted that vaccination rates had slowed, but were still taking place at a number of sites. The 5-11 year old ‘roll out’ would be carried out at GP surgeries and community pharmacies

·         The view was expressed that the Council offered opportunities for those who were clinically vulnerable and reluctant to go out the chance to do so. This could be by offering advice and information as to how they could access parks and open spaces safely

·         Reference was made to anti-vaxers being present at the Nags Head, and that if there were any more instances these should be notified to Councillor Lukes

·         The view was expressed that a one page synopsis of reasons for being vaccinated would be useful for Members when talking to residents to encourage them to be vaccinated

The Chair thanked Councillors Lukes and Turan and Jonathan O’Sullivan and John Everson for attending