Agenda item

To receive an interim report to update the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on the progress of the GP Access Scrutiny Task Group.

As Chair of the GP Access Scrutiny Task Group, Councillor Mary Daly introduced the report. She advised that the report detailed the evidence collected thus far through resident engagement. The Task Group were continuing work on access and interviewing residents, with 70 face to face interviews conducted, to gain a clear picture of the experiences of residents’ access to GPs. The information collated would guide the recommendations of the Task Group, which would fall under two categories; immediate changes for improvement and longer term vision for Primary Care Networks (PCNs).

The Chair thanked Councillor Daly for the introduction and invited comments and questions from those present, with the following issues raised:

Judith Davey (CEO, Brent Healthwatch) found the paper helpful and was delighted to be working with the Council to promote the roll out of the survey. Healthwatch were conducting their own piece of research into GP access which would take around 4-6 months, and were co-producing the areas of focus with residents. The engagement would involve a mix of surveys, online engagement, in person engagement and focus groups. Healthwatch wanted to focus on the specific access needs of homeless individuals and asylum seekers.

The Committee queried the role of PCNs specifically in Brent. Robyn Doran (Chief Operating Officer, CNWL and Director of the Integrated Care Partnership) advised that the configuration of PCNs in Brent was unusual and was an issue for the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) to look in to, to ensure it was the right configuration for Brent neighbourhoods. The difficulty was around the levers the Integrated Care System (ICS) had to change the configuration, considering GPs were privately contracted to NHS England, meaning movements required approval. The desire from the ICP was for PCNs to support neighbourhoods to have wrap around services. Dr MC Patel advised the May 2019 NHS England Guidance advised PCNs could be any size between 30-50k and did not expect many would exceed 50k. He advised that patients could register anywhere in the country, meaning there were some very large practices with patients from outside of the neighbourhood the practice was based in.

In terms of the involvement of the ICP with the Brent Health and Wellbeing Board, Robyn Doran advised that the ICP met every 6-8 weeks with the Chief Executive and portfolio holders of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The ICP saw itself as accountable to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Chair invited representatives from Brent Youth Parliament to contribute. In relation to children and young people, Brent Youth Parliament highlighted that the report did not mention the specific issues faced by children and young people in relation to GP access. Councillor Daly advised that the Task Group were still collecting information at the moment, and had interviewed parents of infants and young people, with plans to contact Brent Youth Parliament for involvement. Robyn Doran advised that any concerns around access for children would be picked up via the Brent Children’s Trust, which she was a member of.

Members queried the possibility of comparing performance of like for like boroughs, which was felt to be outside of the scope of the Task Group, but officers could look to compare performance with the National GP Survey.

In terms of how GPs were managing the backlog of patients, Dr M C Patel advised that GPs were now open, with a focus on recovery. The guidance issued was focused on GPs ensuring they were looking at those patients who could not or did not want to attend practices during the height of the pandemic. Digital access had been accelerated as a result of the pandemic, and those digitally excluded were being supported by the Brent Health Matters Team. Digital access and exclusion was also a focus on GP forums, and GPs had been instructed to see patients in person if the patient had requested this. Fana Hussain (Borough Director, NWL CCG) advised that a piece of work currently being undertaken was looking at improving access, and dedicated support was being provided to those practices who may not be recording appointments appropriately. For example, a GP may conduct a walk around in a care home and not record it, so the CCG were looking into how that could be recorded and coded.

The flu and Covid-19 vaccination programmes were discussed, with Committee members querying whether there was provision for people to be vaccinated in their own homes. Fana Hussain advised that the CCG now had a contract with CLCH, as the community provider in Brent, supporting GPs to vaccinate patients unable to leave their homes. This provided a challenge in terms of the storage of the vaccinations, but this was being worked on.

The Chair thanked those present for their contributions and brought the discussion to an end. The Committee RESOLVED to note the report and the update provided.