Working Together meeting this evening

I attended the meeting of the "Working Together Steering Group" this evening at the Excellence Suite, ENERGUS, in Lillyhall.

This is one of a number of working groups which give members of the community and stakeholders in our health service the opportunity to work together on how to improve local health services.

The "Working Together Steering Group" which met this evening is particularly concerned with consultant-led maternity and paediatric services and particularly supporting the NHS's work to try and make Option 1 for maternity and paediatrics a reality – that’s consultant–led care at the West Cumberland Hospital and a Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Unit at both hospitals with inpatient services in Carlisle and some overnight beds in Whitehaven for less poorly children.

There are other "Working together" groups supporting other aspects of local NHS services such as community hospitals; a similar group is starting to get under way for Stroke services.

Details of future meetings of these bodies and minutes of past ones can be found on the local NHS website at

http://www.northcumbriaccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/engagement/co-production-and-the-working-together-group.aspx

New Integrated Health and Care system given go ahead for West, North and East Cumbria

Health and care leaders in West, North and East Cumbria have welcomed the inclusion of the area in a national pilot which has been described as a "historic step" to link up health and care services and enable them to work together to improve care for patients and communities.

North Cumbria Health and Care System has been confirmed by NHS England as part of the next wave of Integrated Care Systems (ICS). It gives the green light for further integrating some health and care services across artificial organisational boundaries, which is meant to make it easier for teams to work together and reduce the "I can't do that, it's someone else's job" syndrome.

Professor John Howarth said,

“In all of my 35 years working in the health service in Cumbria, I’ve dreamt of creating an integrated care model, we can now seize the opportunity to collaborate across the system to improve the wellbeing of our communities.”

In this short video Chief Executive Stephen Eames talks about the new system.



Examples of how working as an Integrated Care System will help organisations work together should help improve the care offered to patients include:

➤ A new Delirium Service at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland Hospital.
This helps patients at risk of becoming confused during their stay in hospital which can affect over 40 per cent of hospital inpatients. Delirium is mental confusion which can sometimes occur when people are unwell and has a number of causes such as infections, dehydration and pain; but with the right support it can be managed or even avoided. The service is the first of its kind in the UK and has been co-produced by mental health specialists and clinicians from across the North Cumbria Health and Care System with input from patients and carers. The team has seen over 3000 patients since it launched the service in January.

➤ Home First Teams, which are made up of physiotherapists and occupational therapists from both the community and acute trusts, linking closely with adult social care and the voluntary sector, and are based at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven. The teams are based in Accident and Emergency departments, assessing older patients when they arrive to see if they can remain at home with some extra support. Many hospital stays can be safely avoided if the right support is in place at home. 250 admissions have been avoided in the first six months.

➤ A new Advice and Guidance system helping GPs work with hospital consultants has helped prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and referrals. It offers a secure on-line service where GPs can contact secondary care doctors in several clinical specialities for advice about patient care.

Feedback about the service to date has been very positive including one GP who said: “I have had numerous success stories - the quick, helpful advice I have received has really benefited my patients who have received quicker treatment as a result, more relevant tests, less unnecessary testing done in primary care and numerous referrals that I would have made have not been necessary.”

Local clinical and social care teams have also teamed up to offer free health and wellbeing MOTs within communities. The events include check-ups to measure individuals’ physical health and functional fitness and help start conversations about individual needs. The teams can also signpost to local voluntary and third sector support.

Cumbria Health Scrutiny variation sub-committee meeting, Monday 21st May 2018

There will be a meeting of the Variation Sub-commitee of the Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee at 2pm next Monday (21st May) to consider one issue: the proposal from the NHS Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust to close specialist dental services at the Flatt Walks clinic in Whitehaven and relocate the service to Cleator Moor health centre.

The role of this committee, which consists of six councillors, three district councillors and three county councillors with one of the six representing each district in Cumbria, is to decide whether this constitutes a "substantial service change" which would trigger a greater requirement for public consultation.

The meeting will take place in Committee Room 2 at County Hall in Kendal and will be open to the public.

Details of the proposal, including the results of consultation with patients, and the agenda can be found here.

"Tea with the Team" event for new NHS staff in West Cumbria

Here is a video about the "Tea with the team" event to make new NHS staff in West Cumbria feel welcome which was held at the Rosehill Theatre yesterday and was a great success.

Breast Screening

Any women who are concerned about the national breast screening issue should call the national helpline 0800 169 2692.

Information on the symptoms of breast cancer is available on the NHS website at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-cancer/symptoms/.

May meeting of Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee

The next meeting of Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee will be held at 10.30am in the Council chamber at County Hall in Kendal (NOT in Cumbria House Carlisle where it usually meets) next Monday, 14th May 2018. The meeting is open to the public.

The full agenda can be found on the County Council website here, but it includes the following items:

7. HealthCare for the Future of West, North and East Update: to consider a report by the Chief Executive, NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group

8. Eating Disorders in Cumbria: to consider a report by the Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust 

9. North Cumbria Primary Care Collaborative - Alliance Model Update: to consider a report by the Programme Director for Integrated Health and Social Care – North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. This report provides a progress update on the ‘alliance’ model being developed with a number of GP practices in North Cumbria.

10. Future of Mental Health Services: to receive a presentation from Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust. This report provides members with the opportunity for early engagement in the development of and consultation on the Outline Business Case.

11. Committee Briefing Report: To consider a report by the Strategic Policy and Scrutiny Adviser 

12. Public Health Strategy: to receive a presentation by the Director of Public Health.

The reports for these items are almost all available on the County website page linked to above.