Apologies for absence were received from Diane Griffin, Co-opted Member.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interests

A panel member highlighted that according to the work programme the cabinet member was due to provide an update at the meeting. The Chair apologised for the omission and said the cabinet member will provide an update at the January meeting

The Director of Corporate Services said some of the budget assumptions for 2022-2023 will be revised due to rising inflation, rejection of recent staff pay offer, rising energy prices and Covid is still an issue.

In response to questions the Director of Corporate Services reported regarding the adult social care budget there were extra monies coming in for the budget including winter pressure funding.

RESOLVED

The Chair thanked the Director for her report

A Panel member asked about the explanation and learning from the 10% of people who died at home from COVID. The Director of Public Health said her team would conduct further analysis of the figures and look at specialist analysis from around the country and report the findings to the Panel

In response to questions the Director of Public Health reported that a range of measures have been put in place to address the gap in vaccinations rates amongst the younger population.

A panel member expressed concern that schools are being targeted by anti-vaccination campaigners. The Director of Public Health said schools have held sessions with professionals and young people to build confidence and counteract mis-information. The sharing of fraudulent information is being managed at both a London and national level.

RESOLVED

The Chair thanked the Director of Public Health for her report

An update on the learning and reasons for the 10% of people who have died from COVID in their own homes to a future meeting of this Panel.

The Director of Transformation from South West London Clinical Commissioning Group highlighting that post covid symptoms are described as those which persistent after 12 weeks of having Covid.

A panel member asked if we are learning from the similarities between ME and post Covid symptoms. The Director of Transformation said technics used by therapists are similar with ME.

A panel member asked if there is a smooth transition between services as some found discharge difficult and challenges supporting relatives and moving into different forms of care. The Director of Transformation said there were some early teething problems but these have largely been resolved.

A panel member asked if work has been undertaken to raise awareness of the service including reaching out to marginalised groups. The Director of Transformation said some with post-Covid symptoms may not already been known to mainstream services, therefore they are working with public health to identify community groups.

RESOLVED

The Chair thanked the Director for his report

The Director of Transformation gave an overview of the report highlighting that people have access to GP Services from 8.00am-8.00pm

A panel member said her constituents said they faced difficulties in getting appointments and spent long periods of time on hold which was difficult during working hours. The Director of Transformation said he recognises there have been some issues, there has been some constraints on the workforce and new funding is available to improve access.

In response to questions the Director of Transformation reported that good practice is being shared between GP Practices.

A panel member said the distribution of access hubs is skewed towards the west of the borough and there needs to be an access hub in Mitcham. The Director of Transformation said addition access hub data will be available shortly which will determine the location of future hubs. This information will be shared with the Panel

RESOLVED

The Panel requested a further update on access hubs in due course

John Clark, Microbiology Consultant at Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust,  gave an overview of the report

RESOLVED

The Chair thanked the Consultant for his report and wished the team well in developing the service which will be a valuable resource locally.

The Panel noted the work programme