Agenda item

Mr Ian Weller from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group will be in attendance to present an update to Members on the Urgent and Emergency Care Vanguard.

With the aid of a report by Ian Weller, Head of Urgent and Emergency Care, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Urgent and Emergency Care Vanguard was presented to the Panel.

The Panel were informed that the Clinical Commissioning Group sought approximately £7m of funding from NHS England however due to national funding constraints were only allocated £1.3m of non-recurrent funding. The vanguard is one of eight vanguards throughout the country and is focused on the delivery of two key projects: the integrated urgent care and the mental health first response service (FRS).

Mr Weller added that when the CCG were informed that they would not receive the £7m it decided to focus on the most important projects. Members were informed that the money was pump primed into the pilot schemes and that if the scheme was successful then it would be funded out of the CCG budget in subsequent years.

A Member welcomed the work of the urgent and emergency care vanguard and asked for reassurance that work was being carried out on prevention. The Panel were informed that there is a substantial amount of work being carried out with the schools. The purpose of the FRS is enabling patients to recognise the mental health issue and then make the phone call because the phone call can help de-escalate the issue. If patients don’t get help at that stage then they may need intervention at a later stage.

Following a question asking is the plan realistic and will it be delivered, Members were informed that yes it is realistic however there is a cost. The service needs to access what resources are needed for the delivery. Mr Weller confirmed that the plan will be delivered and on time.

In response to a question regarding resourcing, the Panel were informed that the CCG did not always have the required resources and the example of funding out of hours access to GPs was given.

The Panel asked had the CCG informed mental health patients of the 111 service to which the response was that the service has been well advertised and mental health patients know that if they are to ring the 111 number they would receive the care required.

Following a question of what used to happen to children and young people with mental health issues, the Panel were informed that nothing happened however, the CCG have used some of its funding for a solution. There is now a sanctuary in each region of Cambridgeshire for children and young people to go and that once a child has been to a sanctuary they can go back if the mental health issue reoccurs.

In response to a query regarding the web address for NHS 111 online, Members were informed that the 111 online offer will be a web based application that can diagnose common conditions and provide advice and guidance to manage those conditions.

The Panel were informed that opportunities are being looked at to review the first response to calls and whether it is possible to use other emergency services to assist with blue light calls for health.