Minutes:
The Council’s representative on the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), Councillor B. T. Cooper, provided an update on the latest meeting of the Committee. The following matters were highlighted for Members’ consideration:
a) Dental Services in Worcestershire
The subject of dental services had been discussed following the closure of a dental surgery in Worcester with limited notice to patients. A presentation had been delivered for the consideration of the Committee on this subject but Members had agreed that additional data was required and so a further update had been requested for a future meeting.
b) Pharmacy Services
The Committee had been advised that pharmacy services would be the subject of financial cuts and there was therefore a need to consider ways in which these services could be delivered differently. Again, Members had agreed that additional information on this subject was required and a further presentation had therefore been requested for a future meeting.
c) Fast Food Outlets
The Director of Public Health in Worcestershire had delivered a presentation on the subject of fast food outlets in response to concerns about high levels of obesity in the county. The Committee had been advised that Worcester City Council had a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in respect of fast food outlets, but was the only district Council in Worcestershire to have one. The Director of Public Health would be writing to every district authority in Worcestershire to urge them to introduce a similar SPD.
Members noted that some years previously a scrutiny review of fast food takeaways had been undertaken in Bromsgrove. The scrutiny group had been keen to recommend that an SPD be introduced in respect of fast food takeaways but had been advised that this would be illegal. As Worcester City Council had an SPD dedicated to this matter it was suggested that national legislation must have changed.
d) Stoke Rehabilitation Units
The Committee had been advised that changes to rehabilitation services had to be made due to difficulties experienced in terms of recruiting appropriately qualified staff. This was not a problem peculiar to Worcestershire as similar problems had been experienced in other parts of the country such as Warwickshire. The concentration of specialist rehabilitation services in Evesham would ensure that patients could access expert care where needed and the Committee had been assured that a sufficient number of beds would be available. General rehabilitation services would continue to be available at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bromsgrove. Acute hospital services would remain unaffected and continue to be available to access at Worcester Royal Hospital.
Concerns were expressed by Members about residential access to Evesham Hospital from various parts of the county. The Board was advised that similar concerns had been raised at HOSC and Members had been informed that consideration might be given to the potential to introduce a community bus.
e) Reorganisation of Health Visitors
Councillor Cooper confirmed he had raised the reorganisation of health visitors at HOSC as requested at the previous meeting of the Board. The Committee had shared the concerns expressed by Bromsgrove Members and it had been agreed that this subject should be scrutinised in further detail at a future meeting.