Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received as follows:

•           Councillor Thakkar

•           Councillor Colwill, substituted by Councillor Kansagra

•           Councillor Afzal, substituted by Councillor Kabir

•           Co-opted member Mr Simon Goulden

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

Interests were declared as follows:

• Councillor Shahzad – spouse employed by NHS
• Councillor Ethapemi – spouse employed by NHS
• Councillor Sheth – lead governor of Central and North West London NHS Health Trust
• Rev. Helen Askwith – previously provided clinical governance information to Pembridge Palliative Care In-patient Service. Advice had not been provided since 2011. 

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

There were no deputations received.

To receive and consider a report from Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

providing an update on the review and proposals for local palliative care services in Brent and three other north-west London boroughs.

Hugh Caslake (Head of QIPP and Performance, Brent Clinical Commissioning Group) introduced the report from Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), providing an update on the review and proposals for local palliative care services in Brent and three other North-West London boroughs. He explained that the Hansford review, an independent review into palliative care services by Penny Hansford, had been prompted by the suspension of the Pembridge Palliative Care In-patient unit, as a result of the resignation of the specialist consultant. The decision for the suspension was on the grounds of clinical safety. Since its suspension, the CCG had been unable to recruit a suitably qualified consultant and the recruitment process was on hold while the full palliative care review was ongoing.  The Committee heard that Brent CCG was not included in the commissioning of the independent Hansford review as Brent CCG had already completed an End of Life Care Review in March 2017 with a strategy developed from it. However, interviews had been conducted by Penny Hansford with Brent commissioners, providers, and wider groups and a workshop was held for Brent patients / stakeholders.

Regarding the current services for palliative care, the Committee were told that in-patient bed days for Brent patients in 2019/20 was a total of 2,410, and the percentage of Hospice at Home visits for Brent patients conducted by St John’s Hospice in 2019/20 had increased by 214%, Day Care attendances in Brent had increased by 17%, and home visits by the Community Specialist Palliative Care Service for Brent patients had increased by 10%. The latest NHS England data did not include hospices as a reason for delayed transfers of care therefore data was not collected by any of the local hospices.

Hugh Caslake informed the Committee that of the four potential scenarios outlined in section 2.4 of the report, 3 were derived from the feedback of the workshops and specification from the clinical reference group, and 1 was derived from the Patient and Public Working Group feedback. He outlined each of the potential scenarios, acknowledging the nurse-led impatient unit scenario had came from engagement. The engagement work was intended to look at the entire pathway to palliative care including access and after care. Key points from the workshop findings included; care worked well once services had been accessed but information was inaccessible to navigate prior to that; care planning transparency needed improvement; further awareness of minority communities was needed; concerns around travel times were highlighted and; bereavement services needed to be planned earlier. The future of the Pembridge Palliative In-patient unit was a significant feature in resident concerns. A further series of engagement workshops would be held and finish 13 March 2020, with reports presented to CCG governing bodies and Overview and Scrutiny Committees. Should any substantial change to existing services arise from the engagement process a full public consultation would be conducted.

Regarding inequality of access with only 48% of people who had an expected death having contact with community palliative care services, Hugh  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

None.