Agenda and minutes

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To consider a report of the Strategic Head of Service (Legal & Democratic Governance and Monitoring Officer).

The report sets out the Scrutiny Review Panel Procedure Rules and suggests that the Panel should adopt them for the purpose of conducting the review.

The Panel are requested to formally adopt the Scrutiny Review Panel Rules for the purpose of conducting the review.

Officer Contact: Georgia Latham on 0161 474 3229 or email: Georgia.latham@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Strategic Head of Service & Monitoring Officer (Legal & Democratic Governance) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) requesting the Panel to formally adopt the Scrutiny Review Panel Procedure Rules for this review.

RESOLVED – That the Scrutiny Review Procedure Rules be adopted for this review.

The Panel is requested to hold a discussion to determine the scope of the review, consider the lines of enquiry, witnesses/invited guests that would need to be present, information required and outline any areas which they wish to scrutinise further.

The Panel was invited to determine the scope of the review, consider the lines of enquiry, witnesses/invited guests that would need to be present, information required and outline any areas which they wish to scrutinise further.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         It was suggested that the Scrutiny Review Panel needed to first understand the situation in Stockport around ambulance wait times including how long people were waiting, how long people were waiting within each category, how this compared with the targets set and how the response times in Stockport compared with neighbouring boroughs and other areas of the country.

·         It was noted that the Scrutiny Review Panel wanted to understand whether the response times were impacted by the type of urgent matter and the type of patient.

·         It was requested that as part of the Scrutiny Review, the Panel be provided with information relating to the ambulance wait times targets and the framework around how ambulances were distributed across the area.

·         It was requested that information be provided relating to the flow of patient care from where a call is made, to when the ambulance arrives at hospital and the journey to discharge in order to understand whether there were any issues in relation to the availability of beds or during triage.

·         It was commented that the Scrutiny Review Panel wanted to understand the contributing factors impacting on ambulance wait times and whether this included hospitals and resources.

·         It was suggested that once the Scrutiny Review Panel understood the situation, the Panel would like to explore the programme of work underway and recommendations that could be made to improve ambulance wait times.

·         It was suggested that the witnesses/invited guests include the ambulance service including call handlers and paramedics, hospital, council’s Adult Social Care Team relating to hospital discharges and Healthwatch relating to patient experience.

·         It was suggested that visits be arranged to include a work shadowing day with the call handlers and paramedics within the ambulance service and a walk through of the hospital.

·         It was commented that mental health provision may be impacting on ambulance wait times and this may form part of the lines of enquiry as the review progressed.

·         It was noted that the lines of enquiry and witnesses/invited guests should remain flexible as the review progressed.

·         It was suggested that Scrutiny Review include a combination of in person and online meetings to accommodate the availability of witnesses/invited guests required.

·         It was suggested that elements of the review could be conducted via email including the sharing of information and agreeing a draft report, and a meeting should only be convened when necessary.  

RESOLVED – That the Senior Urgent and Emergency Care Manager (Stockport), NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care with support of Democratic Services be requested to seek the information, make arrangements for the visits and convene further meetings of the Panel on the basis of the discussion.

To agree the dates of future meetings and the timescales for undertaking the review.

RESOLVED – That the Strategic Head of Service & Monitoring Officer (Legal & Democratic Governance), in consultation with the Chair, be requested to determine the date for the next meeting of the Panel.