Agenda item

Ruth Rogers, Chair of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire, will present and update on Healthwatch’s activities in Cambridgeshire.

The Chairman welcomed Ruth Rogers, Chairman of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire, to the meeting who proceeded to address the Panel to provide an update on its activities.

The Panel had previously received a presentation two years ago when Healthwatch Cambridgeshire had recently been inaugurated and was without a full complement of staff. 

As a background it was explained that the role of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire was to ensure public voices were heard in all aspects of health and social care and was a not for profit organisation.

HealthwatchCambridgeshire encompassed the whole of Cambridgeshire and had played a significant role prior to the Care Quality Commission audit of Hinchingbrooke Hospital.  It was explained that Healthwatch Cambridgeshire had facilitated public comments and complaints regarding Hinchingbrooke Hospital.  These had included many positive views as well as negative. Overall a balanced view about the hospital and what could be improved had been received.

The Chairman of Healthwatch had attended a meeting with the new Chairman and the two new Non-Executive Members for Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust and had felt a strong commitment from the Board.  It was noted that more Non-Executive Members were to be recruited.

Mental Health Services was listed on the Panel’s activities and it was noted that this service was problematic within Cambridgeshire.  A local charity called ‘Pinpoint’ had assisted with the collection of evidence regarding problems faced by parents in the diagnosis and provision of care, especially for children with additional needs and disabilities. Healthwatch Cambridgeshire had been able to escalate these issues to Healthwatch England for national recognition.

Accessing GP appointments was a growing issue and it was NHS England that was the responsible authority for this matter.  A lack of funding was a key issue in addressing this problem.  When the GP surgery in Cambourne had been established funding was accessible that allowed the surgery to open before it had the required number of patients.  However, this funding was no longer available. 

Healthwatch Cambridgeshire encouraged people to contact them with any concerns, compliments or complaints they had regarding health and social care. District Councillors played an important role as they received contributions from constituents.

In response to questions regarding accident and emergency hospital admissions it was explained that many and varied conditions arrived for treatment at accident and emergency departments.  UnitingCare Partnership had been selected by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) to improve older people’s healthcare and those with lifelong conditions.  Often cross boundary issues meant that the care provided was variable. A new system was introduced on 1 April 2015 whereby 18 neighbourhood teams had been established consisting of multi-disciplinary individuals with the intention of preventing such issues and avoiding hospital admissions.

Healthwatch Cambridgeshire had not undertaken any formal analysis to assess the correlation between obtaining a GP appointment and accident and emergency attendances as there had been other studies done on the matter. It was acknowledged that difficulties in accessing GP appointments was impacting on accident and emergency attendance figures and it was reported that the Citizen Advice Bureau had undertaken a recent survey which had established that some people, particularly younger people, were unaware of information about their local GP surgery such as its opening times, and therefore went to accident and emergency instead.

In response to questions regarding communicating with other organisations, avoiding duplication of work and the budget situation of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire, it was explained that there were many other organisations that had a significant amount of knowledge.  Therefore Healthwatch Cambridgeshire worked closely with Hunts Forum of Voluntary Organisations and any other organisations that wanted to work in partnership to avoid duplication of work and for information sharing purposes.  It also beneficial that Healthwatch Cambridgeshire had a clear definition of its remit and purpose.  It was further explained that Cambridgeshire County Council provided a grant to Healthwatch Cambridgeshire via central Government which was not ring-fenced.  In the 2015/2016 budget there had been a 5% cut in the grant, which Healthwatch Cambridgeshire had accommodated.  However, if such reductions continued in future years it would be difficult to absorb.

A point was made that some GP surgeries were operated by part-time GPs which created problems regarding continuity of care.

Given the varied knowledge amongst the Panel regarding health care services, the Chairman enquired how the Panel should work with Healthwatch Cambridgeshire to best inform policies and hold health care services to account.  It was explained that Ms Rogers would discuss with the Chief Executive of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire the information that it gathered as it was not currently separated into district level.  Councillors could be provided with the information that Healthwatch Cambridgeshire collated and circulated to its providers.  The Chairman stated that he would continue his discussions with the Chief Executive of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire.

The Chairman concluded by expressing appreciation to Ms Rogers on behalf of the Panel for attending the meeting.