Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Reeta Chamdal (Councillor Adam Bennett was present as her substitute).

There were no declarations of interest in matters coming before this meeting. 

It was noted that the reference to Holloway Road under the Health Update item should have read “Holloway Lane”.  It was also noted that Councillor Scott Farley had substituted for Councillor Sital Punja (not Councillor Stuart Farley).

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2024 be agreed as a correct record. 

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

The Chair welcomed those present to the meeting.  Mr John Wheatley, the Council’s Senior Policy Officer, advised that he had worked with Age UK Hillingdon and Council colleagues to compile the report.  The Older People’s Plan had been informed by the Older People’s Assembly which met three to four times each year.  These meetings gave attendees access to the Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care and the Leader of the Council.  They were well attended and received presentations on a range of subjects including unpaid carers, pavements, street lighting, etc.  Information had also been made available about the Green Doctor which offered free items such as draft excluding strips for Hillingdon residents aged 60+ and was not means tested. 

Changes had been made nationally to the eligibility criteria for winter fuel payments, which meant that the recipients needed to be in receipt of pension credits.  This had had an impact on those who were just over the threshold for being able to claim pension credits and those who were eligible but did not claim.  It had been proposed that the Council would commission a local charity to support residents in submitting a claim for pension credit (the current national application form was over 40 pages long). 

Insofar as the Council’s housing stock was concerned, older tenants were being prioritised on the authority’s programme for replacement boilers and windows and a Pensioners’ Support Fund had been created to support those in exceptional hardship.  Members queried whether home owners would be eligible for support from the Council in relation to insulating their homes.  Whilst Mr Wheatley was not sure about support from the Council, he was aware of various organisations that could provide advice. 

The Council would continue to provide warm spaces around the Borough for residents to be able to spend some time in the warmth with a hot drink.  It was hoped that Health Champions would also be available at each of the warm spaces venues to offer a range of support services.  Health Champions were supervised by H4All and had initially been used to target residents in Hayes.  However, because it was geographically isolated and because of its outlier health indicators, the focus had shifted to Harefield.  A small number of Health Champions had been recruited to these voluntary positions and it would be their role to signpost residents to community groups.  Ms O’Neil was unaware of the demographic makeup of these Champions but would find out and pass the information onto the Democratic, Civic and Ceremonial Manager for circulation to the Committee.  

Mr Mike Levitan, Chief Executive Officer at the Middlesex Pharmaceutical Group of LPCs, advised that every pharmacy in Hillingdon was a Healthy Living Pharmacy and had champions.  However, this facility had gone off of the NHS England agenda somewhat so had not been well used. 

A range of dementia support, information and advice continued to be available to residents alongside preventative activities such as walking football.  Ms Sarah Durner, the Council’s Sport and Physical Activity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Ms Lisa Taylor, Managing Director at Healthwatch Hillingdon, advised that community pharmacy services were highly valued by residents and often meant that they did not have to wait for a GP appointment.  The outreach services were also really well received.  Although Healthwatch tended not to receive complaints about (or be told about) issues with community pharmacy, Ms Taylor was aware that there had been issues with the communication between GP surgeries and pharmacies, particularly in relation to repeat prescriptions, which could be frustrating for the resident. 

There had also been some issues with services being commissioned from some community pharmacies, but not all.  For example, some community pharmacies had been commissioned to provide free blood pressure checks but residents would be charged for the service in others.  There was a need for transparency in the communications about the services that were provided by community pharmacies.  It was noted that there had also been a shortage of some medicines in some areas which had led to the situation being referred to as “pharmacy bingo”. 

Ms Taylor noted that the cost of running a pharmacy had increased and had contributed to 50% more community pharmacies closing in 2024 than had closed in 2023.  This had had an impact and resulted in increased pressure on the remaining pharmacies and, because the cost of delivering some services was prohibitive, these services were being avoided or stopped (such as dosage boxes with prefilled medications) to prevent complete closure of the pharmacy. 

Hillingdon residents had raised concerns about the disparity in the services delivered by each pharmacy.  To get a better understanding of what the issues were, Healthwatch Hillingdon had launched a survey of the Pharmacy First scheme and would be undertaking some targeted engagement. 

Mr Mike Levitan, Chief Executive Officer at the Middlesex Pharmaceutical Group of Local Pharmaceutical Committees (MPG of LPCs), advised that MPG of LPCs provided support, guidance and advice to community pharmacies in nine Middlesex borough areas via the statutory LPCs in Barnet, Enfield & Haringey; Brent & Harrow; Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow and Hillingdon.  He noted that the themes raised by Ms Taylor were common across community pharmacy nationally but were magnified in London. 

A number of initiatives had been discussed to help improve the uptake of community pharmacy services.  As a result of the pressures faced by GP surgeries, repeat prescriptions were taking 48-96 hours to process which meant that emergency prescriptions were increasingly being used because the regular pathway was not working quickly enough.  In addition, there had been a shortage of some medicines over the last few years which had been getting worse.  It was noted that the NHS drug tariff exceeded what patients were actually paying for prescriptions.  Pharmacists were therefore spending a lot of time trying to find the medicines needed by patients at a reasonable cost so that they were not left out of pocket. 

Mr Levitan advised that community pharmacies were independent contractors, similar to optometrists, dentists and GPs.  Community pharmacies were commissioned by NHS England through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Ms Vanessa Odlin, Managing Director – Goodall Division at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, advised that the wellbeing bus pilot had provided partners with significant insight into the needs of the residents in the Heathrow Villages.  Partners had learnt the value and importance of engaging with residents when considering possible interventions. 

Mr Keith Spencer, Managing Director at Hillingdon Health and Care Partners, advised that a survey had been undertaken with residents in the Heathrow Villages to establish whether or not they were able to access the services that they needed.  Despite having access to some services (which other parts of the Villages did not have), residents in Harlington had been most likely to state that they did not have access to the services that they needed.  However, it was recognised that access was still an issue. 

A meeting had been held with residents following the conclusion of the pilot and their feedback had been included in the evaluation report.  The core priorities had been identified as access to GP outreach and pharmacies to be able to get services such as blood pressure checks and weigh management interventions. 

Mr Spencer advised that the most recent GP contract that had been let in Hillingdon had included a requirement to provide GP outreach in the Heathrow Villages but a venue still needed to be identified.  CNWL had offered to provide a small second-hand modular building to deliver services from the hardstanding at 45 Holloway Lane which Heathrow Airport would provide for a maximum of five years.  Consideration had also been given to running transport to the venue from the other villages. 

The Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care had gone with Mr Spencer to meet the residents in Heathrow Villages and had received the plans for the modular building.  However, although the site and building would be provided for free, indicative costs for connecting services and kitting the building out had been estimated at around £1m (this would include facilities such as ventilation).  Mr Spencer would need to look at bringing those costs down and had been speaking to large local companies about making a contribution towards the cost through their corporate social responsibility teams (this action went beyond his formal remit).  He aimed to have a solution on how the funding gap would be addressed by the end of November 2024.  In the interim, consideration was being given to using the church hall to deliver services. 

It was noted that estate had never been an easy issue to deal with in the NHS as there were rules around capping expenditure.  However, Mr Spencer was determined that this would be resolved as it was a big issue for residents. 

As Heathrow Airport had been clear that the use of 45 Holloway Lane would only be available for the next five years, Members queried what longer term plans would be put in place.  Mr Spencer advised that the neighbourhood leads had been asked to work with Public Health leads  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

Consideration was given to the Cabinet Forward Plan. 

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted. 

Consideration was given to the Committee’s Work Programme.  Members agreed the scoping report for the major review of adult social care early intervention and prevention. 

The Chair advised that the representatives from the various local authorities affected by the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC) proposals had met informally on Friday 8 November 2024.  It had been agreed that Hillingdon would have three representatives on the MVCC Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC).  The Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee (HSCSC) had been appointed to the MVCC JHOSC by Council at its meeting on 11 July 2024 and delegated authority had been given to the Head of Democratic Services to appoint additional Members and substitutes as required.  The HSCSC Vice Chair and Opposition Lead had been appointed to fill Hillingdon’s remaining two places on the MVCC JHOSC.  It had been proposed that the HSCSC Chair be appointed as the Vice Chair of the MVCC JHOSC and this would be determined at the Committee’s first meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme be agreed.