Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest made.

RESOLVED:  That all items of business be considered in public.   

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2021 be agreed as a correct record. 

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2021 be agreed as a correct record. 

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting. 

Mr Richard Ellis, Joint Lead Borough Director for Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG), advised that the COVID-19 vaccination programme had been running since the third week of December 2020, approximately 6-7 weeks.  A number of vaccination sites had been running across the Borough and it was hoped that more would be opened. 

The Department of Health had set a target for all areas to have vaccinated 75% of the following priority groups by 14 February 2021:

1.    Residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults;

2.    All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers;

3.    All those aged 75-79; and

4.    All those aged 70-74 and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals (not including pregnant women and those under 16 years of age).

Mr Ellis confirmed that Hillingdon had already achieved the following:

1. 84% of those aged 80+ had been vaccinated;
2. 90% of those aged 75-79 had been vaccinated;
3. 84% of those aged 70-74 had been vaccinated;
4. 60% of clinically and extremely vulnerable individuals had been vaccinated;
5. 73% of care home residents and staff had been vaccinated.  CNWL and other colleagues had vaccinated almost all residents in all care homes with the remainder being vaccinated on 10 February 2021; and
6. Approximately two thirds of health and social care staff had been vaccinated.

It was anticipated that the vaccination programme would be widened out to the following groups in the next week:

1. All those aged 65-69; and
2. Adults aged 16-65 in an at-risk group.

Mr Ellis noted that the success of the vaccination programme in Hillingdon had been as a result of joint working between the various partners including the Council, voluntary sector and health partners.  Ms Sandra Taylor, the Council’s Director Provider Services and Commissioned Care, echoed the comments made by Mr Ellis in relation to the effectiveness of the joined up working that been undertaken. 

Dr Veno Suri, Vice Chairman of the Hillingdon Local Medical Committee, advised that general practice had been prioritising the roll out of the vaccination programme.  That said, he strongly advised that patients should continue to contact their GP for routine care as normal services were also still being provided.  GPs were being advised when their patients had not attended a vaccination appointment or had not booked an appointment even though they were eligible and were proactively contacting them to address any issues.  They had also been working hard to identify eligible patients and book them in for a vaccination appointment. 

Dr Suri stated that he had been humbled by the way that the vaccination programme had been rolled out in Hillingdon, particularly in comparison with other London boroughs.  The programme had been well coordinated and issues experienced tended to be in relation to the availability of the vaccine rather than resources.  These issues had included the logistics around the three-day shelf life of one of the vaccines that had been administered. 

Ms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Dr Veno Suri, Vice Chairman of the Hillingdon Local Medical Committee (LMC), advised that the review had sought to streamline liaisons between GPs and social services.  As such, discussions had been held between GPs and Council officers to agree a process to streamline requests for letters in relation to housing, blue badges and benefits.  However, the Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG) would be required to agree any funding associated with this work. 

There had been pressures in the South of the Borough in relation to GP recruitment.  Dr Suri noted that, to try to alleviate this, the NHS had agreed to cycle trainee GPs into the South of the Borough which would provide more flexibility in the GP training. 

It was noted that the recommendations had been agreed by Cabinet in January 2020 which had been just before the pandemic had arrived in the UK.  Although some progress had been made, the progress of some recommendations had been adversely affected by COVID-19.  As such, it was agreed that a further update report be scheduled for the Committee’s meeting in February 2022 to give those parties involved more time to implement the recommendations. 

RESOLVED:  That:

1.    a further update report on the implementation of recommendations from the GP Pressures review be scheduled for February 2022; and

2.    the discussion be noted. 

The Chairman thanked Ms Laura Tarling, External Affairs Manager at Post Office Limited, for attending.  Ms Tarling noted that it had been an extraordinary year and that the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted on retailers which had, in turn, impacted on the Post Office. 

Post offices had been deemed to be an essential service during the pandemic and, in the current period of lockdown, 99% of post offices had remained open for business.  However, a small number had been affected by the pandemic resulting in temporary closures and reduced hours, potentially at short notice following staff shortages.  Trade levels had been mixed with some post offices seeing an increase in transactions as more people had been sending parcels and mail, especially over the Christmas period when they had been unable to visit in person.  However, income from travel insurance and foreign currency had not been good following COVID-related restrictions on travel. 

The pandemic had dramatically changed how customers were shopping but had remained positive, supporting and understanding.  In December 2020, there had been £640m of cash withdrawals which had been the highest level of withdrawals ever. 

In the last year, Post Office Limited (PO) had been supporting its post masters to ensure that they were able to provide essential services to the community.  They provided them with PPE and perspex screens and had set up a hardship fund.  They had also provided them with posters to remind customers to wear face coverings, keep 2m apart and regularly wash their hands.  Ms Tarling noted that the post masters in Hillingdon had worked hard to ensure the continued provision of post office services in the Borough and they had done a good job.  26 post offices had remained open across Hillingdon, although some of them may have been disrupted by the need for actions such as deep cleans. 

The Post Office Strategy looked to maintain a network of 11,500 post offices across the UK.  Ms Tarling advised that the PO was not looking to cut services but was instead looking at how it could best serve its communities.  Although there would not be a public consultation, findings from the review would be discussed with the relevant Government department and the findings would then be made public. 

Concern was expressed that post office services were still not available in the Heathrow Villages area and it was queried whether a suitable business had been identified in the area to provide the services.  Ms Tarling noted that Sipson and Harmondsworth were in the area that would be affected if the third runway at Heathrow went ahead.  She noted that businesses would be less likely to invest in starting a post office (or adapting their existing business to include post office services) if there was a possibility that the third runway would go ahead and their future was uncertain. 

Members queried whether there was anything that the Council could do to help identify a business to provide post office services in Heathrow Villages.  It was suggested that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s Work Programme.  It was noted that the Committee’s next meeting on 23 March 2021 would be focussing on crime and disorder.  The Chairman asked Members to forward questions to the Democratic Services Manager that they would like answered by the Metropolitan Police Service.  As well as the usual Safer Hillingdon Partnership performance report, the Committee would be looking at the impact of the pandemic on the provision of police services in the Borough. 

The Programme of Meetings 2021/2022 would be considered by Council on 25 February 2021 and the External Services Select Committee meeting dates would be agreed.  At the meeting on 23 March 2021, it was agreed that Members would discuss possible topics for consideration at its meetings during the 2021/2022 municipal year. 

Given the impact of COVID-19, it was agreed that a further update report on the GP Pressures review be scheduled for the Committee’s meeting in February 2022 to give the relevant parties more time to implement the recommendations.

RESOLVED:  That:

1.    Members forward questions that they would like sent to the police to the Democratic Services Manager;

2.    an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the GP Pressures review be considered at the meeting in February 2022; and

3.    the Work Programme be agreed.