Agenda item

Martin Machray, Islington CCG and Dr.Gillian Greenhough were present and outlined the report to the Committee.

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

·         The incidence of tooth decay had reduced and was now average having reduced from the highest level in the country and had benefitted from the fluoride programme introduced

·         Teenage pregnancies had reduced

·         Work was taking place with Whittington Hospital on integrated care

·         The Annual Public Health report is an excellent document and the focus is to look at reducing mental health problems and will now account for 19% of the budget

·         Islington CCG administration costs only represented 2% of the total annual budget which is good value

·         Whittington Hospital and UCLH have some of the best mortality rates in the country and A&E targets were nearly met despite the crisis in most A&E units in the country during the winter and the CCG had put additional funding in during this period

·         With regard to infection control the Whittington were below target for MRSA and c difficile and had one of the best infection control units in the country

·         Camden and Islington were in the top 3 CCG’s for palliative care

·         Islington is made up of 36 GP practices  working in partnership with local providers and the Council

·         Islington is the most densely populated UK borough and the one of most deprived in the country and has the second highest level of child poverty. It also has the highest level of psychosis in the country and has a high level of long term conditions that will need a different level of care over 10 years

·         Islington Council and the CCG share the following priorities – to make sure every child has the best start in life, to prevent and manage long term conditions and health inequalities, to improve mental health and wellbeing, and deliver high quality, efficient services within the resources available

·         The CCG spent a total of £315.3 million across commissioning areas and management costs

·         Islington has reversed the historically low trend in vaccination of children is now performing amongst the best in the country for 5 in 1 vaccinations

·         Commissioned Whittington Health’s ambulatory care centre to address pressure on A&E

·         There will be a continued focus on integrating care and there will be joint working across North Central London focusing on improved primary care, and shifting focus towards commissioning for healthy outcomes

·         In the next 5 years the CCG will focus on prevention, work with people to design new services, improve access and quality in primary care, make GP practices the centre of co-ordinated health and social care, manage care better by planning ahead and having a single point of contact, and help people manage their own care

·         It was noted that dampness had an impact on health for residents of the borough

·         There was also a high incidence of COPD in Islington and dampness is a contributory factor, although due to the improvements in social housing this has reduced in the last 5 years

·         Reference was made to incidences of co-morbidity and that this tended to be seen more in an ageing population, however Islington had a relatively young population

·         Islington has a sophisticated public health system and heart disease has reduced by 33% in the previous 5 years

·         In response to a question it was stated that the rates of autism are growing across the country and incidences were picked up quickly in Islington and the CCG is putting more money into diagnosis and how this problem could be better addressed

·         An area of concern is the need to find in the NHS £22 billion of efficiency savings  and this equated to Islington identifying £100 million of savings by 2020. This is during a period when when other public sector organisations such as the Police and Local Authorities who also support the health sector in delivering a service

·         Work is taking place with Islington and GP’s in order to obtain and record information on residents with learning disabilities

·         In relation to child obesity it was stated that whilst this has improved it is still above average and it was stated that data on this could be circulated to the Committee

The Chair thanked Martin Machray and Dr.Gillian Greenhough for attending