Agenda item

Councillor H.D.N. Warren-Clarke proposed that Councillor B. Kumar be appointed Chairman of the Board for the 2026/27 municipal year.  This was seconded by Councillor A.M. Dale.  Following a show of hands Councillor B. Kumar was nominated to become the Council’s representative on the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) for the municipal year 2026/27. 

The HOSC representative also updated the Board following the latest meeting which had been held on 17^th June 2026 in which the Committee received an update from NHS partners on the performance of Worcestershire’s Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) system and Patient Flow arrangement during the winter period October 2025 to March 2026.

The key points were highlighted as follows:

• Continued high demand on urgent and emergency care services.
• Improved patient flow remained critical to reducing hospital and ambulance delays.
• Greater use of Same Day Emergency Care, virtual wards and community services was helping avoid unnecessary admissions.
• Ongoing work was improving hospital discharge processes and reducing the length of stay.
• Better integration between NHS organisations and social care was supporting more efficient use of beds and resources.
• Further improvement was required to ensure resilience during future winter pressures.
• Whilst Worcestershire's health and care system had made measurable progress in managing patient flow and urgent care pressures, sustained partnership working and continued service transformation would be essential to meet growing healthcare demand in the years ahead.

After the update, Members made the following comments:

• Members queried whether measles had been mentioned as a cause for concern during HOSC meetings? – The HOSC representative advised that measles had not been mentioned specifically in the meeting, however, the Board were advised that measles was on the increase, with cross contamination from Birmingham into the Worcestershire District and outbreaks were on the rise.
• What health issues were likely to affect Bromsgrove residents for the forthcoming year? – Councillor B. Kumar replied that a key priority was preventing unnecessary attendance at Redditch of Worcester hospitals.  The Board were advised of ongoing work to promote out-of-hours services at Princess of Wales Hospital, noting that travel to Redditch and Worcester could be costly and distressing for senior residents.  It was also highlighted that there were positive developments through Healthy Worcestershire, including wellbeing centres and activitiesfor senior citizens, such as fitness to prevent falls.

Following the discussions concerning the Princess of Wales Hospital out-of-hours services, Members queried what the main obstacle was for this service? – The HOSC representative advised that the service still required nurses to link up with primary care, however, vital staff were not always available to cover the required shifts.

• Virtual and same day emergency care wards was raised with Members, commenting that many people shared concerns about virtual wards and suggested that where patients were well enough for a virtual ward, they might sometimes be well enough to be discharged with GP follow-up, while in other cases the support may not be strong enough.  A Member expressed support for same-day emergency care as a way of taking pressure off hospitals and asked whether improvements had been seen.  - Councillor Kumar responded that fit patients may receive assessment and treatment and go home the same day, however, many elderly patients had multiple ailments and could be too unfit to go home the same day.

RESOLVEDthat Councillor B. Kumar be appointed as the Council’s representative on the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2026/27 municipal year and the update be noted.</AI5>