Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Hall, Leeds, LS1 1UR. View directions

Contact: Steven Courtney (0113) 24 74707  Email: steven.courtney@leeds.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

67.

Chair's Opening Remarks

Minutes:

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance.  The Chair highlighted this represented an additional meeting following the request for scrutiny from the Executive Board Member for Health and Wellbeing agreed at the Scrutiny Board meeting in December 2014.

 

The Chair reminded all those in attendance of the Council’s Third Party Recording code of practice, copies of which were available at the meeting. 

 

The Chair highlighted that other local authority scrutiny committee’s had been made aware of the meeting and the issues likely to be discussed.  Representatives had been given the opportunity to attend. In this regard, the Chair welcomed Councillor Karen Rowling from Kirklees Council to the meeting.

 

68.

Late Items

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

 

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

Minutes:

The following item was submitted and accepted as late items to the meeting:

 

·  Briefing note from NHS Trust Development Authority (minute 71 refers)

 

69.

Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests declared to the meeting. 

 

70.

Apologies for Absence and Notification of Substitutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence and notifications of substitutes were received as follows:

 

·  Councillor G Hussain – Councillor M Harland attending as a substitute member

·  Councillor K Maqsood – Councillor C Macniven attending as a substitute member

·  Councillor J Walker– Councillor M Ingham attending as a substitute member.

 

71.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust pdf icon PDF 95 KB

To consider issues arising from the request for scrutiny at its meeting in December 2014 in relation to potential risks to patients being created by the Board of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS), highlighted by Unite the Union.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report reminding the Scrutiny Board of the request for scrutiny considered at its meeting in December 2014 – in relation to potential risks to patients being created by the Board of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS), highlighted by Unite the Union.  The Unite letter (dated 2 December 2014) and the YAS response, with a series of frequently asked questions (dated 10 December 2014), were appended to the report.  A summary report of key performance data from YAS was also appended to the report.

 

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser gave a brief introduction to the report, highlighting the information provided and detailing those organisations that had been invited to contribute to the discussion, namely:

 

·  Unite the Union – to highlight and expand on the concerns raised

·  Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) – to respond to the concerns highlighted by Unite the Union

·  Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) as commissioners of services provided by YAS

·  NHS England as the NHS oversight body for commissioners

·  NHS Trust Development Authority as the NHS oversight body for NHS Trusts yet to achieve Foundation Trust (FT) status.

 

It was highlighted that representatives from Unison had been invited to attend the meeting.  A response had not been received and representatives were not expected to attend.

 

The Chair reminded all those present at the meeting that the remit of the Scrutiny Board was not to adjudicate between YAS and any Trade Union, but to focus on issues related to the quality of service provision and patient safety.

 

The Chair outlined the proposed approach for the meeting, which was to consider the information and evidence provided by each of the contributing groups, as follows:

 

·  Unite the Union representatives;

·  Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) representatives;

·  Representatives from Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS Trust Development Authority

 

Unite the Union

 

The following representatives were in attendance:

 

·  Dave Trubshaw, Senior Organiser (Organising & Leverage Department)

·  Mark Hudson, Team Leader (Organising & Leverage Department)

 

In addressing the Scrutiny Board, a summary of matters raised included:

 

·  Thanks to the Scrutiny Board for considering the matters raised by Unite.

·  Apologies sent on behalf of more senior representatives within Unite.

·  An outline of a ‘dossier of evidence’ currently being collated by Unite’s Legal Team – due to be completed by the end of February 2015.

·  Confirmation that Unite remained in discussions with YAS.

·  The following specific concerns in relation to YAS:

Ø  The manipulation (downgrading) of calls received.

Ø  The deployment of Emergency Care Assistants (ECAs).

Ø  Unsustainable financial plans.

Ø  Vast increases in the use of private ambulances in response to rising demand.

Ø  Inappropriate use of other emergency service vehicles to transport patients to hospital.

 

In considering the details presented and outlined in the meeting, members of the Scrutiny Board highlighted a number of matters, including:

 

·  Concern at the lack of supporting evidence to support the issues raised by Unite.

·  Queries regarding the use of the Trust’s Whistleblowing Policy and procedures and/or any other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

72.

Date and Time of the Next Meeting

Tuesday, 24 February 2015 at 10.00am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.30am)

Minutes:

Tuesday, 24 February 2015 at 10:00am (with a pre-meeting for members of the Scrutiny Board from 9:30am).

 

The Chair thanked all those in attendance for their contribution to the Scrutiny Board’s discussion and closed the meeting. 

 

 

(The meeting concluded at 4:50pm)