Tony Gravett, Healthwatch Deputy Manager was present for this item.  It was highlighted that –

(a)           they worked with primary care commissioning, CCGs and GP surgeries and conducted an access survey around people trying to get an urgent appointment.  It was reported that most people were seen or received a GP call back within 48 hours.  The survey took place during winter 2017 and run again winter 2018 and the recent results show that it hasn’t got worse;

(b)          they had undertaken a focussed piece of work on the Surgical Assessment Unit at the request of the hospital looking at patient engagement, expectations and waiting times.  We provided some recommendations of which some were taken forward such as a board explaining the process and how long you can expect to wait because of diagnostic testing which may be required.  A further date has been arranged to review the progress;

(c)           they had been contacted by a patient diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, a rare condition which affects the lung capacity but can affect other parts of the body and difficult to diagnose.   The patient felt that they were not being treated holistically and there was no support group in place.  They had since set up a South West Support Group which now has 50 members and now understanding the range of issues this group were facing;

(d)          they were working with the Sustainable Transformation Partnership alongside Healthwatch Devon and Healthwatch Torbay sitting on different boards and committees;

(e)          they have had several meetings with the CQC under their 3 main strands: acute service, social care and primary care which has led us to both understanding each other’s roles and have provided help with the planning of inspections;

(f)            there was a shortage of British sign language and interpreters for primary care and Derriford for a health appointments.  This had been partly caused by the contracted provider.  They were currently reviewing this and would like to bring this back to scrutiny in the autumn;

(g)           they have been involved in the working groups with the trust around complex hospital discharge and looking to undertake a survey to hear from patients who had gone through the complex discharge pathway.  They were also looking at the adult social care discharge process;

(h)          they have been involved in STP work around children’s procurement services and have also have been commissioned by NEW Devon CCG to look at Autism Services in Plymouth.

In response to questions raised, it was reported that -

(i)            it had always been difficult to make the links with minority groups but as part of the Health and Wellbeing Hubs had managed to engage with some of these groups.  The evidence so far shows that we are not seeing too many issues but engagement was required;

(j)            they were aware of a project by the CCG to raise awareness of PPGs and to get PPGs more focused in supporting their surgeries;

(k)           Plymouth University have been working with Healthwatch Torbay on a Digital Inclusion Programme which aims to educate people on how to use an on-line system for making a routine appointment.  Access to GPs remains an issue and an on-line system for making an appointment should not be the only method.

The Committee noted the report.