Agenda item

Mr Dan Kennedy, the Council’s Director of Housing, Environment, Education, Performance, Health and Wellbeing, echoed the thanks for the recent health protection work that had been undertaken in the Borough.  At the start of the pandemic, there had been tragic consequences for some.  This had been followed by restrictions as infection prevention and control measures were put in place to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases.  Although this had reduced the infection rate, levels were now rising again and the Prime Minister was due to make further announcements about control measures later in the day.

Although the infection rate in Hillingdon had been generally lower than the London average, it was important not to be complacent.  Partners had put together a COVID-19 Local Outbreak Control Plan (LOCP) which covered seven key areas:

1.    Care homes and schools;

2.    High risk places, locations and communities;

3.    Local testing capacity;

4.    Contract tracing in complex settings;

5.    Data integration;

6.    Vulnerable people; and

7.    Governance / local boards.

The Council had worked with schools at the end of the summer term to ensure that they would be prepared and ready for reopening in September and had provided them with PPE starter packs.  Since restarting, there had been some classes that had had to isolate when pupils or staff had tested positive but, on the whole, schools had been coping well. 

It was noted that Environmental Health Officers had been providing advice and guidance to local businesses.  They had also been undertaking unannounced visits to check business compliance. 

Hillingdon Health and Care Partners (HHCP) had been meeting on a regular basis to share up to date information and ensure that services were coordinated effectively.  The North West London (NWL) Summary Out of Hospital Recovery Plan had set out actions that had been taken by HHCP during the first wave and the associated learnings.  The Plan also identified actions for dealing with a second wave as well as future considerations.  Although not designed to be a long term plan, it did seek to ensure that care was delivered in a safe and effective way. 

The Hillingdon COVID-19 Health Protection Board had been set up to provide oversight and coordination of the LOCP and the measures that had been put in place to prevent and control infection.  Measures would need to be in place to support the urgent care response and to get things going again.  Primary care premises would need to be made safe, including providing diagnostics in hot hubs, and recall systems would need to be established for immunisations and vaccinations.  Community services would also need to be reviewed to maximise capacity and reduce non-clinical contact time. 

With regard to care homes in the Borough, the Board was advised that it was a changeable situation with a programme of repeat testing in place.  Mr Tony Zaman, the Council’s Director of Social Care, advised that the Council had been working with providers to ensure that they had access to all of the PPE that they needed and to ensure that robust plans were in place.  Although there had been a recent increase in the number of residents and staff in Hillingdon’s care homes testing positive, the infrastructure was in place to measure and monitor this.  It was likely that the pandemic had impacted on the financial viability of some care homes. 

Concern was expressed that parents were not adhering to social distancing guidelines at school drop off and pick up times.  Mr Kennedy advised that the schools had been regularly reminding parents of the need for social distancing outside the premises and many had staggered the start and finish times for different classes to mitigate this issue. 

With regard to Hillingdon residents that were attending university elsewhere in the country, consideration was now being given to any possible impact from them returning to the Borough at Christmas.  Mr Kennedy advised that the Council had been in discussions with the university leadership team but that, as there was currently no Government guidance available about this matter, it would need to be revisited at a future date.  However, students were being placed in household bubbles whilst at university and lectures were socially distanced. 

Mr Kennedy noted that verbal and written messages regarding guidelines had been communicated widely by the Council’s communications team.  In addition, faith leaders and community networks had been used to get messages out to as wide an audience as possible. 

Dr Ian Goodman, Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG) Board Chair, noted that the flu vaccination campaign had started via GPs and pharmacies and it was expected that uptake would be higher than previous years.  As well as vulnerable individuals, the vaccine was being offered to those aged 50+.  The transfer of information between pharmacies and GPs had improved so that the vaccination information could be collated at a NWL level.  Data from the schools vaccination programmes would somehow need to be fed into GPs so that a fuller picture was available.  It was agreed that Mr Kennedy would investigate this further with schools. 

RESOLVED: That:

1)    the work to date and underway by the Council and Board Members to prevent and control the spread of the COVID-19 virus be noted; and

2)    regular reports on the action Board Members were taking to prevent and control the spread of the COVID-19 virus be considered at future meetings.