Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2018.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meetings held on 13 December 2018 were received.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive a presentation from Carol Williams, the Deputy Chief Officer, and Linda Harper, Chair of the Flintshire Local Committee.   

That the presentation be received.

The Chair welcomed and introduced Carol Williams, Deputy Chief Officer, Community Health Council, and Linda Harper, Chair Flintshire Local Committee, to the meeting.  She invited them to give a presentation on The Community Health Council (CHC): Improving health service for people in North Wales.  The main points of the presentation were:

·         North Wales CHC

·         what the CHC does

·         how the CHC works

·         Flintshire examples of CHC work

·         CHC key points

The Chair thanked the Deputy Chief Officer and Chair of Flintshire Local Committee for their presentation and invited Members to raise questions.

The Deputy Chief Officer raised awareness of the campaign for MRi scans for prostate and said a number of patients had had to fund scans themselves. She advised that the CHC had made representations and people  now had their costs reimbursed.  She added that the CHC continued to support families affected by the Tawel Fan ward.  The Deputy Chief Officer commented on the need for car parking charges at hospitals to be reasonable and the importance of keeping town centres active. Following a suggestion by the Chair of the Committee it was agreed that a letter be sent to the Assembly Members in North Wales prior to the e-petition being considered by the Welsh Government on 13 February urging Welsh Government to intervene to ensure prostate cancer scanning was not subject to a postcode lottery in Wales.

Councillor David Healey commented on the provision of mental health in Flintshire and said it was difficult to form a view.  He felt that either there was a greater awareness or there was a sharp increase in the demand for mental health services.    He asked how the provision for mental health in Flintshire compared with mental health services provided by other local authorities as mental health waiting lists for face to face services were a concern.  Councillor Healey also referred to Parabl and commented that there seemed to be doubt as to whether this organization would continue. 

The Deputy Chief Officer referred to the joint mental health team meeting which had been held between Flintshire County Council  and BCUHB and added that Parabl was a third sector organization which offered talking therapies for people with mild to moderate mental health problems.  She acknowledged there was a long waiting list for some mental health services and said this was an ongoing issue.  She added that following discussions between the Chair of the Health Board and the CHC, the Chair of the Health Board had agreed to provide more information regarding Mental Health Services within BCUHB.

The Chair of the Flintshire Local Committee referred to the special measures imposed on the Health Board and said mental health was a contributing reason.  She agreed that the description “patchy” in terms of mental health provision in Flintshire  was relevant at both primary and community level.  She reported that the Vice Chair of the Community Health Council was leading on Mental Health and anticipated that more positive news would be reported in the next 12 months.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

(a)       That the Committee supports the parenting work to date; and

(b)       That the Committee supports the report and the work being undertaken to provide quality, consistent parenting support across Flintshire, taking into consideration future funding proposals in relation to funding flexibilities and the required outcomes. 

The Senior Manager, Children and Workforce, introduced the  report to provide an update on the Flintshire Parenting Strategy Framework and the work being undertaken to provide quality, consistent parenting support across Flintshire, taking into consideration future funding proposals in relation to funding flexibilities and the required outcomes.  The Senior Manager introduced the Service Manager, Early Years and Family Support, and invited her to present the report.

                        The Service Manager provided background information and explained that since 2007 two Parenting Strategies had been published in Flintshire with Flintshire’s Parenting Framework launched in 2018 (appended to the report).  The Parenting Framework detailed the sustainability and further developments of parenting programmes and formed part of the wider strategy for early intervention and prevention in Flintshire.  The work was overseen by the Parenting in Flintshire multi-agency Strategic Group.

The Service Manager advised that the work in Flintshire was aligned to the Welsh Government Parenting in Wales guidance on engagement and support.  The success of the Strategies and the Framework in enabling good quality parenting support was due to the alignment of policy with local implementation, dedicated funding, a dedicated parenting coordinator role, strategic oversight through the Parenting in Flintshire multi-agency group and the collaboration between many services delivering quality information, advice and parenting support.

The Service Manager reported on the main considerations, as detailed in the report, concerning he Parenting Strategy, policy context.

The Service Manager took the opportunity to read out a letter of support from Professor Judy Hutchings, Director of the Centre for Evidence Based Early Intervention at Bangor University for the work on the Flintshire Parenting Strategy and Framework and the work of the multi-agency strategic group, the coordination role and the outcomes.  The Chair, on behalf of the Committee, also expressed her congratulations and appreciation to the Service Manager for the hard work and positive outcomes achieved.

Councillor Gladys Healey sought assurance that support was in place to assist multi-cultural families and that assistance was sought from other organisations to help with this task.  The Service Manager explained that language could present a barrier and support was provided to overcome this.   The Lead Parenting Practitioner gave an assurance that the need to provide multi-cultural support was a key consideration within the Service and referred to the resources and support that was provided in other languages.  The Service Manager also commented on the need to provide multi-cultural support to address safeguarding issues. 

Councillor Kevin Hughes asked what support was available for grandparents who held responsibility as main carers for grandchildren.  The Service Manager explained that whilst there was no specific programme for grandparents the importance of their role was recognised and they were welcome and encouraged to engage with the Service to establish cross-generation links.

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee supports the parenting work to date; and

(b)       That the Committee supports the report and the work being undertaken to provide quality, consistent parenting support across Flintshire, taking into consideration future funding proposals in relation to funding flexibilities and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

To receive a verbal report from Members of the Committee.

There were no reports on rota visits.  The Social & Health Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator advised that a new list of rota visits would be circulated to Members in the near future.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be updated accordingly;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)       That representatives of Barnardo’s and North East Wales Carers Information Service (NEWCIS) be invited to attend a future meeting to discuss the identification of young carers.

The Social & Health Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator presented the Forward Work Programme for consideration.  She advised that the item on Learning Disability Day Care and Work Opportunities Alternative Delivery Model had been considered at the meeting of the Organisational Change Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 28 January 2018, and to avoid duplication of workload had been taken off the Forward Work Programme.  She reported that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 28 March 2019, to consider the following items:

·         Q3 Council Plan monitoring

·         Marleyfield House expansion progress update

·         Delayed transfer of Care/Single Point of Access

A short session will be held at the rise of the meeting to consider the format of the Social Services Director’s Annual Report. 

The Senior Manager, Children and Workforce, explained that following discussion at a previous meeting of the Committee he had met with representatives of Barnardo’s and North East Wales Carers Information Service (NEWCIS) and suggested that representatives of both organisations be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to discuss the identification of young carers. 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be updated accordingly;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)       That representatives of Barnardo’s and North East Wales Carers Information Service (NEWCIS) be invited to attend a future meeting to discuss the identification of young carers.

There were no members of the press or public in attendance.