To receive any declarations of interest from Committee members in relation to items on this agenda.

There were three declarations of interest in accordance with the Code of Conduct:

The Committee will be asked to confirm if the minutes of 13 December 2023 are a correct version, for the record.

The Committee agreed the minutes of 13 December 2023 as a correct record.

To receive any reports on business which, in the opinion of the chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There was one item of Chair’s Urgent Business.

The Chair asked Councillor Mary Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Heath and Adult Social Care) to provide an update in relation to the outbreak of Measles in Plymouth. In response, it was reported that:

a)    465 cases of Measles had been reported across England this year, with a noticeable spike in January;

b)    The majority of cases were in under ten year olds, with seven cases confirmed in the South West;

c)    Vaccines were available, and people were encouraged to check with their GP that their vaccines were up to date;

d)    While Measles was not currently a large issue in the South West, there was a requirement for caution and preventative action.

Chris Morley (NHS Devon ICB), Jane Bullard (NHS Devon ICB), Shaen Milward (UHP), Jonathon Cope (UHP), Tricia Davies (St Luke’s), Sharon King (Livewell SW), Sarah Pearce (Livewell SW), and Rachel O’Connor (Livewell SW) delivered a presentation on ‘End of Life Care’ to the Committee, and discussed:

a)    The role of the Integrated Care System (ICSs in ensuring people with palliative and end-of-life care needs could access high quality, personalised care and support;

b)    The recent amendment of statutory guidance to include palliative care services;

c)    The establishment of a multi-disciplinary, end-of-life steering group in Devon which would oversee, monitor and make recommendations to NHS Devon;

d)    NHS Devon’s role in decision making and facilitating the delivery of end-of-life services to meet national, local and best practice guidance;

e)    The Gold Standard Framework, and GP Workload;

f)     Population statistics for Plymouth from 2021 census data detailed a population of 246,700, with an expected death rate of 2,647 per annum;

g)    In Plymouth, 48% of deaths occurred in hospital, which was significantly higher than the Devon average of 37%;

h)    Plymouth had higher levels of frailty amongst a younger population in comparison to other regional and national averages, largely due to deprivation;

i)     University Hospital’s Plymouth (UHP) had seen a decrease in the number of people dying in hospital in 2023;

j)     Nationally, 1% of the GP-registered population were in their last year of life;

k)    The Medical Examiner Service data for Plymouth showed fluctuating levels of people dying in the Emergency Department (ED);

l)     Feedback from bereaved families was collated in Mortality Review Meetings;

m)  Recommendations from the Devon End-of-life Commissioning review had included designing a Devon Service Specification to focus on equity of access and experience for all residents and their families;

n)    There was a Devon-wide issue with the administration of ‘Just-In-Case’ (JIC) medications;

o)    Key areas highlighted through the Devon End-of-life Commissioning review were:
i) The rollout of educational material and opportunities for staff training;
ii) Co-ordination of an equitable approach to training and education;
iii) The launch of NHS Devon’s new ‘end-of-life’ webpage;
iv) Ensuring that funding and packages of care were made available in a timely fashion to ensure speedy and safe discharge, providing support to individuals and families to ensure their loved ones are cared for, and amending the package as need change;

p)    Devon-wide end-of-life commissioning priorities were: supporting system wide projects, developing the end-of-life care service specification, and ensuring the appropriate equipment was available when required;

q)    Treatment Escalation Plans (TEPs) required improvement however, the introduction of Electronic Treatment Escalation Plans (E-TEP) would be advantageous to this process;                                                                                

r)    A Care Co-ordination Function had been commissioned across Devon, allowing ambulance crews to access phone support from Advanced Care Practitioners and GPs, to discuss the terms of the TEP for each individual;

s)     The six pillars within the National Framework for assessment were:
i) Each person was seen as an individual;
ii) Care was co-ordinated;
iii) Each person got  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

For the Committee to review the progress of Tracking Decisions.

Elliot Wearne-Gould (Democratic Advisor) delivered an updated on the Tracking Decision Log and discussed:

a)    Five actions had now been completed, with seven remaining outstanding. The majority of these actions would be marked complete when presented to the Committee in the new municipal year;

b)    The latest version of the action log would be update circulated to the Committee before the start of the new municipal year.

The Committee agreed to note the progress of the Tracking Decisions Log.

For the Committee to review the work programme and consider items for the New Municipal Year.

Following a discussion of potential items to be considered in the New Municipal Year, the Committee agreed to note the work programme.

To Consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(2/3/4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following items of business, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.

Agenda