Agenda item

To consider a report from Leeds City Council’s Head of Governance and Scrutiny Support that introduces a report from West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (the Partnership) providing an outline of the activity taking place within the Partnership relating to its identified workforce priority. The report also includes a description of the role of the Local Workforce Action Board (LWAB) and provides some examples of the work taking place to mitigate workforce risks.

The Joint Committee received a report of Leeds City Council’s Head of Governance and Scrutiny Support presenting a report on workforce challenges from the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership Local Workforce Action Board (LWAB). The report provided a description of the LWAB and the plans in place to mitigate workforce challenges and risk.

A copy of the document “A Healthy Place to Live, a Great Place to Work” was tabled at the meeting.

The following were in attendance and contributed to the discussion:

-  Chris Mannion, Associate Director - Workforce Transformation, West Yorkshire & Harrogate Local Workforce Action Board.

-  Kate Holliday, Workforce Transformation Lead, Health Education England.

-  Ian Holmes - Director, West Yorkshire & Harrogate Health & Care Partnership

A number of points were highlighted by way of introducing the item, including:

·  The team worked closely with the Clinical Priority Programme and the 6 areas within the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership to identify workforce challenges.

·  LWAB received £500k funding from Health Education England annually and Appendix 2 of the submitted report presented a breakdown of how that funding was spent along with examples of the work streams.

·  The need to ensure the right staff with the right training were available at the right place and time was a key objective. To achieve this, LWAB had established several training packages to support staff through change and individual work streams such as the creation of the post of Operating Support Officer to provide support to patients through recovery and beyond.

·  The importance of unpaid and/or working carers was recognised – a ‘working carer’s passport’ had been developed, to encourage working carers to identify themselves and advise their managers of the challenges they face outside of the workplace. It was noted that 11% of NHS staff were recorded as being working carers

The Joint Committee discussed a range of workforce challenges, including the following areas:

Mental Health service areas where it was reported that 2000 staff had left the field. The Joint Committee noted the response that Health Directors had been asked to assess and report any service gaps in the system to LWAB. LWAB had developed better progression and clear pathways throughout mental health services to encourage staff retention.

Clinical Care settings where there were different staff requirements between teaching and non-teaching Trusts. It was reported that a ‘Streamlining Programme’ offering mandatory and statutory training packages on subjects and issues experienced at every hospital had been established so staff can develop transferrable skills and work within both teaching and non-teaching Trust settings, thus removing some of the barriers to work progression. Employers did acknowledge the value of staff investment and progression which brought benefits to the service provided and continuity of care.

It was also reported that work was being undertaken with Universities and social care providers to encourage and support nursing staff with a programme of training and work placements.

Social Care and Home Care Services; although the direction of travel was for people to take responsibility for their own health at home, there was a shortage of home support for people with complex medical needs in the form of District Nurses and Health Visitors and a comment was noted that the presented work streams did not address this.

Discussion on the new technology available to support home care provision identified that some patients did not have internet access or reliable Wi-Fi connection and could not make use of the offer.

Additionally, events had been devised to promote careers in the health and care sector. For GP recruitment; a programme of repatriation had been developed as many more GPs were registered than practiced. It was noted that a “Return to Practice” booklet had been produced and would be provided to Members of the Joint Committee.

The Joint Committee identified the following matters for further discussion:

·  The ambitious nature of the work streams.

·  The NHS Ten Year Plan and the likely impact/implications for the workforce

·  The impact of Brexit on the number of EU nationals working within the health and care sector, and the analysis undertaken by Health Education England.

·  The impact of the lack of staff on service provision including the reported numbers of staff absent through sickness.

·  Measures used to discourage the use of agency staff.

On behalf the Joint Committee, the Chair thanked representatives for their attendance, presentation and contribution to the discussion.

RESOLVED –

a)  To note the contents of the submitted report and appendices.

b)  To note the discussions on the details presented in the report

c)  To progress the matters for further discussion identified at the meeting.