Councillor Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

a)    In response to concerns around End of Life Care performance in Plymouth, as well as statistically higher hospital deaths at University Hospital’s Plymouth (UHP) than national averages, the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee (H&ASC OSC) considered End of Life Care at the end of the last municipal year;

b)    A key priority for the Labour Administration was better access to healthcare across the course of a person’s life, and therefore Cabinet were made aware of the recommendations to the Local Health Services to help improve the support for those nearing their end of life;

c)    It was critically important that people were supported, particularly around quality of life, ensuring that good symptom management delivered comfort, maintained dignity and allowed people to live as fully as possible until their passing;

d)    There should have been a personalised approach where healthcare Professionals collaborated with the person, their family and loved ones, to make informed decisions about their care options;

e)    Holistic care should have been addressed physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually;

f)     By treating the needs of the person and not just their illness, it provided comprehensive support throughout their sensitive time;

g)    The H&ASC OSC made a number of recommendation to Health Partners reflecting the above;

h)    The proposal of the following:

i) Cabinet recognised the importance of End of Life Care for the citizens of Plymouth and thanked the Scrutiny Committee for their diligent work;

ii) Cabinet endorsed further review at H&ASC OSC of the Improvement Plan being undertaken by the NHS and Partners in relation to End of Life provision and the consideration of any further recommendations that the Committee deem appropriate;

iii) Cabinet noted the Cabinet Member response to Appendix Two.

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Co-Operative Development and Community) added:

i)     Plan for Homes 1, 2, 3 and 4 had been concerned about ensuring that that there was adequate housing provision for everyone who needed housing in the city;

j)     This was also reflected in the Joint Local Plan;

k)    This meant specialist housing would have to be provided for those with specialist conditions, including End of Life conditions;

l)     Councillor Aspinall would work closely with officers in Adult Social Care to ensure the Service Director for Community Connections had all of the evidence necessary to build a strong Housing Needs Assessment. This would ensure there was the appropriate provision for people with health needs, people with disabilities and people receiving End of Life Care.

Gary Walbridge (Interim Strategic Director for Adults, Health and Communities) added:

m)  The H&ASC OSC was powerful and gave people a chance to discuss the choices they would make in terms of End of Life Care and gave credence to talking about End of Life Care as early as possible to reduce the stigma around it.

Cabinet agreed to the following recommendations:

1.    That the Cabinet recognised the importance of End of Life Care for the citizens of Plymouth, and thanked the Scrutiny Committee for its diligent work;

2.    That the Cabinet endorsed further review at Scrutiny of the improvement plan being undertaken by the NHS and partners in relation to End of Life provision and the consideration of any further recommendations that the Committee deems appropriate;

3.    That the Cabinet noted the Cabinet Member response at appendix two.?