Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services presenting information linked to the Leeds Health and Care Winter Planning 2020/21 and business continuity planning within the Adults and Health directorate.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented information linked to the Leeds Health and Care Winter Planning 2020/21 and business continuity planning within the Adults and Health directorate.

The following documents were appended to the report:

-  Leeds Health & Care Winter Planning 2020/21, Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

-  Briefing Paper - Business Continuity Planning in Adults and Health During COVID 19

The following were in attendance:

-  Councillor Rebecca Charlwood, Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adults

-  Victoria Eaton, Director of Public Health

-  Shona McFarlane, Deputy Director, Social Work and Social Care, Adults & Health

-  Sam Prince, Executive Director of Operations, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

-  Helen Lewis, Interim Director of Commissioning, Acute, Mental Health and Learning Disability Services, NHS Leeds CCG

-  Sajid Azeb, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

-  Gaynor Connor, GP Confederation

-  Alison Kenyon, Associate Director, Leeds & York Partnership Foundation Trust

The Interim Director of Commissioning, Acute, Mental Health and Learning Disability Services (NHS Leeds CCG) introduced the report, providing some of the context to the expectations and challenges around resilience planning in the coming months, including the impact of the backlog of appointments and treatment, along with the reduced capacity due to the additional time restraints as a result of restrictions around space, use of PPE and COVID-19 testing.

Members discussed a number of matters, including:

·  Patient experience and support continuity. Members expressed concerns around the use of telephone and video call appointments and the impact of such interactions on vulnerable groups. Members were advised that the standard operating procedure requires 100% telephone triage, then video consultation and if not resolved, face to face appointments can be facilitated. However, work is ongoing to ensure that communities, particularly those who are not comfortable or confident with technology, are not disadvantaged by remote triage and patient needs are considered on an individual basis.

·  NHS Track and Trace and Pillar 2 Testing. Members were advised that there are capacity issues with testing nationally, despite 1000+ tests per day in Leeds, and that teams are responding locally by supporting local people to navigate the national process, as well as working with hospital colleagues to free-up laboratory space. Conversations with Public Health England to implement localised and flexible testing and tracing programmes are ongoing.

·  Care home preventative support. In response to a query, Members were advised that, due to the reduction of care home placements in the city, social care teams are working closely with 10 care homes who are experiencing some challenges, many of whom have reduced their capacity and workforce. Members were advised that care homes are now more resilient in terms of PPE than earlier in the pandemic, with local authority able to supply additional equipment in emergencies. However, care homes are reporting challenges with access to and timeliness of testing.

·  Active lifestyles. Members sought assurance that supporting people to maintain healthy and active lifestyles remains a priority despite the changes to access to activities, and were advised that a new referral pathway has been introduced enabling NHS partners to refer to the Council’s Active Leeds service. The Chair suggested that the Board considers in more detail the active lifestyles element at a future meeting.

The Deputy Director for Social Work and Social Care introduced the business continuity plan briefing, highlighting the importance of such plans in emergencies to support the teams to know how to respond to crisis. However, it was noted that COVID-19 required a continuous change in procedure over an extended period of time which has moved beyond the original business continuity response.

RESOLVED – That the contents of the report and appendices, along with Members comments, be noted.