Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Douglas Mills, Mr Tony Zaman (Ms Sandra Taylor was present as his substitute), Ms Robyn Doran, Mr Graeme Caul, Mr Bob Bell (Mr Nick Hunt was present as his substitute) and Mr Sheikh Auladin (Mr Richard Ellis was present as his substitute).

There were no declarations of interest.

It was noted that the agenda for this meeting had been pared down due to the current pandemic.  It was agreed to continue the delegated authority with regards to agreeing the BCF plan and that other reports would be brought to the next meeting,  

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2021 be agreed as a correct record.

It was confirmed that Agenda Items 1 to 9 would be considered in public and Agenda Item 10 would be considered in private. 

Consideration was given to the report and recommendations.

RESOLVED:  That:

1. the changes made at Council to the Cabinet Member membership of the Board be noted;
2. the appointment of the Cabinet Member for Families, Education and Wellbeing as Vice Chairman of the Board be noted;
3. the appointment of Ms Patricia Wright as The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Non-Voting Co-opted member on the Board, and the appointment of Mr Jason Seez as her named substitute, be agreed;
4. the appointment of Mr Sheikh Auladin as the Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group Non-Voting Co-opted member on the Board, and the appointment of Mr Richard Ellis and Ms Sue Jeffers as his named substitutes, be agreed;
5. Hillingdon Health and Care Partners be included as a Non-Voting Co-opted member on the Board; and
6. the appointment of Ms Caroline Morison as the Hillingdon Health and Care Partners Non-Voting Co-opted member on the Board be agreed.

Mr Dan Kennedy, the Council’s Director Planning, Environment, Education and Community Services, advised that the rates of COVID-19 infection had been steadily reducing since the publication of this report and was now at 68.8 per 100k population.  This had been lower than the London average of 74.6 per 100k population.  Measures that had been put in place had been working but it would be important to not become complacent. 

Work had been undertaken to understand the trends with regard to infection rates in the Borough.  It was suggested that the infection rates had slowed since the closure of schools as households were no longer mixing at the school gates.  Data had indicated that outbreaks were often geographically clustered and were likely to have resulted from households mixing. 

The Health Protection Board continued to meet on a monthly basis.  Hillingdon had achieved its vaccination target by 14 February 2021 and performance had been better than the other areas in North West London. 

Although the focus had been on the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination, there had previously been a huge effort to increase the take up of the flu vaccination.  Although the target had been to achieve around 70% take up, Hillingdon had achieved more than 95% for the over 80s. 

Intelligence had been received with regard to areas and groups with lower levels of take up of the COVID-19 vaccination.  Action could therefore be targeted to encourage these individuals to have the vaccination.  Joint working had been undertaken between health partners and the local authority with around 150 faith and community leaders.  Some of these leaders had made videos for their communities to allay fears and rebut myths and some had offered their premises for use as vaccination centres.  The current focus was on a speedy roll out of the vaccine.  As such, the work being undertaken with faith and community leaders would be key. 

Community Champions were being recruited and marshals were being deployed to provide advice and guidance.  Public Health had been providing advice and support and social care had also been providing support to care providers in the Borough. 

Contact testing and tracing had been well established in the Borough.  Since it had started, the Council had tracked more than 2,000 residents to ensure that they were abiding by the guidelines. 

Partners had been quick to respond to outbreaks of COVID-19 across the Borough and enforcement action had been taken when needed.  Meetings continued to be held three times each week with the police and approximately 100 fixed penalty notices had been issued for COVID rule breaches. 

Mr Kennedy advised that Healthwatch Hillingdon had undertaken a survey to understand the fears and concerns that would prevent residents from having the vaccine.  The results of this survey had been shared with North West London to address these concerns and inform future publicity.  For those residents who had been concerned that the vaccine was not safe, further information had been provided and the take up had increased as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Mr Richard Ellis, Joint Lead Borough Director for Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG), advised that the calibre of working relations across Hillingdon in relation to vaccinations had been very high.  This joint working had included health partners, the voluntary sector and the local authority. 

It was noted that the report had provided a snapshot of the work that had been undertaken which continued to move forward.  The target for the first four priority groups in Hillingdon had been achieved.  Overall, approximately 88% of each group had been vaccinated by mid-February, including 92% of care home residents.

Work had now started to roll out the vaccine to groups 5 and 6.  80% of group 5 had already been vaccinated (those aged 65-69) and about two thirds of group 6 (those aged 16-65 with underlying conditions).  It was anticipated that the vaccination of these two groups would be completed in the next two weeks.  A national and London steer was now awaited for the roll out to those aged 50-64 (a third of this group had already been vaccinated and it was anticipated that this would be completed in the next few weeks).

Although it had previously been anticipated that there would be three mass vaccination centres opened in the Borough, there would only be two: Old Vinyl Factory and Compass Theatre.  Although Winston Churchill Hall in Ruislip would not now be used as a mass vaccination centre, consideration was being given to it being used for something else. 

Since the programme had started, supplies of the vaccine had fluctuated but there had always been sufficient quantities.  However, this week and next week, adequate supplies of the vaccine had posed significant challenges on a national scale so would not be comparable with previous weeks.  It was anticipated that, from the week commencing 15 March 2021, vaccination centres were expecting more supplies than usual. 

Although there had been an initial reluctance by some parts of the community to have the vaccination, the support provided had demonstrated that this could be overcome and take up amongst these groups increased. 

Dr Ian Goodman, Chair of Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group, advised that the vaccination programme in Hillingdon had been a success story with regard to collaborative working.  73% of care home staff in Hillingdon had been vaccinated which compared very favourably with the low rates achieved elsewhere in London. 

It was hoped that the first dose would have been received by those in groups 1-9 in Hillingdon by 29 March 2021.  It was anticipated that the second dose for these groups would then be completed by 13 June 2021.  GPs would be giving the second dose to individuals and would have been involved in administering 5% of the first doses.  It was noted that a vaccination centre was also being set up in Boots in Uxbridge. 

RESOLVED:  That the update be noted. 

The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (THH)

Ms Patricia Wright, THH Chief Executive, advised that, in April 2020, the highest number of inpatients testing positive for COVID-19 had been 100.  At its peak in January/February 2021, this figure had risen to 160-170.  In the three months from December 2020, the number of critical care beds had been increased from 9 to 15.  THH staff had responded magnificently despite high levels of sickness and whilst also juggling personal responsibilities such as home schooling.  A programme of support had been put in place for the health and wellbeing of staff, particularly in relation to mental health. 

THH had built a strong relationship with Hillingdon Health and Care Partners (HHCP) and had worked closely together to improve things such as discharge planning.  It was noted that the number of patients testing positive for COVID-19 had started to reduce but increased from 80 on 1 March 2021 to 89 on 2 March 2021. 

Ms Wright advised that she had been in post since the beginning of December 2020.  Her Executive Team was now complete and had been planning to develop the recovery plan in response to recent regulatory issues and scrutiny.

It was noted that the redevelopment of Hillingdon Hospital was a three-stage process: Strategic Outline Case (SOC), Outline Business Case (OBC), Full Business Case (FBC).  This process usually took about five years but was being expedited.  The SOC had been signed off by the Treasury in October 2020 and it was anticipated that the OBC would be submitted in August / September 2021.  1 in 500 drawings of what the development might look like had already been produced – 1 in 200 drawings would be needed for the OBC.

Upfront funding had been secured for the provision of two modular buildings which would help with decanting patients from existing wards during the redevelopment project: Modular North would include two wards plus critical care and would be on line by the end of March 2021; and Modular South would include paediatrics and would be in place by September 2021.  Once these modular buildings were functional, the existing single level huts could be cleared from the site.  A programme of refurbishment was also underway in the hospital tower block. 

Hillingdon Health and Care Partners (HHCP)

Ms Caroline Morison, Managing Director of HHCP, advised that the exceptional integrated working that had taken place with regard to the vaccination programme in Hillingdon had already been highlighted in the two previous reports.  This had included work between the local authority and THH around the discharge hub. 

Joint working had been undertaken to reach as many people as possible in the Borough as quickly as possible to administer the vaccine.  Consideration was now being given to the longer term impact of COVID-19, for example mental health for children and young people, the impact on resilience and developing neighbourhood working.  Work would be needed to develop the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy to deliver priorities and address the inequalities that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The Chairman noted that the proposed Health and Wellbeing Board development workshop had been deferred.  It was agreed that this be held virtually and that an alternative date be scheduled in May 2021.  Dates would be canvassed and Mr Tony Zaman, Ms Caroline Morison and Mr Kevin Byrne would finalise the details. 

It was agreed that the next Health and Wellbeing Board meeting scheduled for 15 June 2021 would include reports on the following issues:

1. Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Joint Performance report – the emerging Strategy could also form the basis of the workshop;
2. Children and Young People’s Emotional Health – a joint update and situation report from HHCP and CNWL on early intervention through to CAMHS;
3. Child Healthy Weight – it was likely that the issue of children being overweight and obese would have been exacerbated during lockdown.  A report was requested to reflect the work that was underway and include an updated plan with proposals.  Councillor O’Brien had spoken with some infant school teachers about dental health which would be included in the Child Healthy Weight Strategy.  She noted that there were issues with children not knowing how to brush their teeth properly and/or not being encouraged to brush their teeth.  A previous paper had been produced in relation to this and consideration would need to be given to how this information could be distributed in schools; and
4. Hillingdon Hospital Redevelopment – as this was hight on the agenda, an update report on the way forward was requested.

RESOLVED:  That the Board Planner 2021/2022, as amended, be agreed.

There were no issues deemed to be urgent.