PAPER A

NOTES OF EVIDENCE

Meeting	Policy Commission for Care, Health and Housing
Ref	He.PC.23/08/06
Date	23^rd August 2006
Time	18.00hrs
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission	Cllrs Erica Oulton (Chairman), Geoff Lumley, Roger Mazillius, Margaret Webster, Colin West and David Whittaker
	Cabinet	Cllr Dawn Cousins
	Secretariat	Cllr David Pugh
	Other Councillors	Cllr Andy Sutton
	Officers	Ms Louise Biggs - Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Team Ms April West - Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Team Leader
	Stakeholders	Ms Jane Wilshaw, Joint Director of Nursing and Patient and Public Involvement – Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust Ms Doreen Drake – Older Voices Mr Peter Pugh – Healthcare Patient and Public Involvement Forum Chair Ms Nancy Ellacott – Primary Care PPIF Chair
	Apologies	Cllr Win McRobert
Agenda Items
1. To agree the notes of evidence arising at the meeting held on 22^nd March 2006	Notes agreed with the following amendments: Cllr David Whittaker and Cllr Geoff Lumley to be added under ‘Apologies’
2. Declarations of Interest.	None
3. To discuss and from comments on “A Stronger Local voice: a framework for creating a stronger local voice in the development of health and social care services”.	3.1 The Local Involvement Networks (‘LINks’) are similar to the previous Community Health Councils, and have the power to do more than the existing Public and Patient Involvement Forums (‘PPIFs’). The powers of the LINks are more general than the specific powers give to the PPIFs, this could prove to be more useful. However, the LINks will not have a right of access to hospitals. 3.2 LINks will need sufficient managerial and administrative support in order for them to be effective. Currently the PPIFs have some funding but this is insufficient to provide full support to the organisation. 3.3 LINks could be set-up as a Community Interest Company (CIC). 3.4 There will be a need for LINks to be seen as a separate from the local authority 3.5 The NHS, the PPIFs, the Community and Voluntary Sector and the Policy Commission must begin to think to about how the Island’s LINks should look before the legislation is passed. One way of doing this would be through the Island’s Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) 3.6 The new LINks need a new name – too many organisations currently use ‘link’ within their titles. 3.7 There were some doubts about timescales for the new legislation, since the document stated that, “we will legislate on these new arrangements when parliamentary time allows” (Page 7) 3.8 There was a question over who will be the custodians of patient and community petitions, which can be used to trigger reviews of poorly performing services.
4. To receive evidence on enquiry Continuing Care (H1/06) from Doreen Drake, Older Voices	4.1 Health screening and lifestyle advice will result in positive older people. 4.2 The self-management of conditions should be encouraged. 4.3 Older people should be more closely involved with the design, delivery and evaluation of services for them. 4.4 The balance should be shifted toward services aimed at the promotion of well–being for all older people. Preventative health measures would reduce the need for continuing care. 4.5 An increased awareness and promotion of alternative approaches e.g. acupuncture, homeopathy and relaxation techniques to dealing with health problems would also be welcomed. 4.6 There needs to be more emphasis on dignity and a need to focus on valuing people rather than money-management. 4.7 ‘Dying with dignity’, a document produced by one of the consultants at St Mary’s Hospital, should be available in all care homes and for those who chose to die in their own homes. 4.8 It would be helpful to extend the bereavement service for the Island. 4.9 An increase in the amount of money spent on upgrading existing accommodation for the elderly run by the Housing Associations would be welcomed. 4.10 Carers require better support, which could be carried out through Neighbourhood Watch schemes or Safer Communities.
5. Other information	5.1 Jane Wilshaw updated the commission on recent developments within the Island’s NHS organisations: 5.1.1 The new organisation to be established on 1^st October 2006 will be called the Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust 5.1.2 The Chair of this organisation will be Mr Danny Fisher. 5.1.3 The interim Chief Executive (for 6 months) will be Mr Ed Macalister-Smith. A permanent appointment will be made after the post has gone out to national advert. 5.1.4 Interviews are being carried out for the remaining non-executive board members. 5.1.5 In total, there will be 5 non-executives, plus a chairman and 5 executives with 1 non-voting. 5.1.6 A new interim finance director has also been appointed – Margaret Pratt – for 3 months. 5.2 Some of the Trust’s debt was written off as it was non-recurrent. This means that the amount required within the savings plan had been reduced by 3.7 million. 5.3 The Committee paid tribute to Graham Elderfield for his years of service for the Island’s NHS Trusts and attendance at Commission meetings.
Actions	1. To arrange a meeting to form a response to ‘A Stronger Local Voice” 2. To refer the setting up of LINks to the Island’s Local Strategic Partnership		LB LB