Board Meeting Date of Meeting: Wednesday 3 rd May, 2017 Healthwatch Birmingham Board Meeting Time: 4.30 pm 6.30 pm Venue: Healthwatch Birmingham Board Room Cobalt Square, 83 Hagley Road, Birmingham, B16 8QG Attendees Andy Cave Brian Carr Chair Jasbir Rai Carol Burt Peter Rookes Jane Upton Danielle Oum Catherine Weir Jenny Jones Di Hickey (minutes) There were 2 members of the public in attendance to observe Public Session 1 Welcome, Introductions & Apologies, Any Other Business For Noting BC welcomed all to the meeting, in particular the new NEDs to their first Board meeting. Everyone in attendance introduced themselves. Apologies were received from Mike Hughes and Les Lawrence. Members of the public were advised to ask questions at the end of the meeting via the Board Secretary. BC advised all that any political references be avoided due to Purdah being in place. Declarations of Interest To complete None 2 Minutes of previous meeting (5 th December, 2016) The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted. 3 Actions Arising All Actions Progress All There were no actions arising. For Action BC thanked everyone and stated that he had enjoyed his time as Chair at HWB and he welcomed DO as the new Chair. DO stated that she was pleased to become HWB s Chair and thanked BC for his contribution towards ensuring that HWB continues as an impact focussed organisation. BC officially handed over the postion of Chair to DO. DO Chaired the 1
remainder of the meeting. 4 CEO s Report AC For Noting STP AC reported that there have been a lot of changes at Birmingham City Council which has affected the STP leadership. Due to the departure of Mark Rogers the new STP System Lead is Dame Julie Moore and the new Programmes Director is Kathryn Hudson. Healthwatch have only one seat on the Black Country STP. It has been agreed that Healthwatch Dudley represent all local Healthwatch in the Black Country at this meeting. It was felt that public engagement around the STP was slow. There were some stakeholder events and connections with the Voluntary and Community Sector but very little communications were coming out of the STP. There have been engagement meetings happening which have not been labelled as public consultation and have been open and informative meetings which have been found useful. Action: i) AC to prioritise and will proactively pursue members of the programme board with a view to gaining a seat and to make contact with Kathryn Hudson to progress. ii) If required the Board offered to invite Dame Julie Moore (or other STP representatives) to a board future meeting to meet volunteers and to tell us more about the STP which may help negotiate a seat at the programme board. Operations Update AC reported that HWB is now moving into their 5 th year and with the successful recruitment of four new Non-Executive Director s it would be an exciting year ahead. The new contract and the Business Plan have been reviewed and reviewing Job Descriptions and developing a new HWB System Map to ensure that we are in a good place as an organisation. Naomi Hawkins, Head of Volunteering and Public Engagement, left the organisation and whilst the post is being advertised we will keep volunteers motivated through Enter and View and Community Engagement activity. Quality Standard AC reported that the Quality Standard is included in the final NHS England Assurance Process. NHS England are pleased with the information received and it has now been highlighted to move forward and look at how NHS England can develop the CCGs around the areas in the Quality Standard. DO commended the work in achieving take up of the Quality Standard by all CCGs in the Region, adding that achieving similar take up by providers would be good. However, the HWB website did not seem to be encouraging wider take up with its reference to HWB copyright and implication that organisations would need to pay to use it. AC reported that this had been a pilot year. We have worked with 2
providers to find out if it works for them, it has been constantly tweaked and we are now at a stage to work out what we are doing with the providers, which will help with the recruitment to the new post. The feedback received has shown that the assessment tool was liked and the standard helps them to think about what s right for them and the people they serve. AC confirmed that the ultimate aim for the Quality Standard would be for every CQC registered organisation in Birmingham to be using it. HWB would need to work with other Healthwatch for it to go wider. DO stated that the HWB website alludes to organisations having to purchase the standard. AC explained that details were asked for as a way of managing the impact. The Quality Standard will remain as a free tool, however, this can be looked at with any future conversations about sustainability. AC reported that last year had been about relationships and influencing organisations to use it. When it reaches Commissioner stage it will then be passed down to providers. HWB may work around it, already worked with HWOESC who have used it as a tool to question Patient and Public Involvement around the STP. Working with the STP they felt it should be used by individual organisations, however this can be revisited with new leadership for the STP. Everyone can see the value to help them do the work needed, particularly engagement leads as the tool helps them strengthen a consistent approach across organisations. AC explained that the Quality Standard comprises of a series of I statements which are clearer to understand and use. JJ questioned whether Quality Standard was the correct name for the document. Action i) access portal on website to be tweaked to encourage take up. ii) Look into name of Quality Standard Is it a Quality Standard or a development tool? Marketing & Communications AC reported that there has been a 60% increase in feedback from the previous year, showing a growth in all areas of where feedback is collected. Research & Investigation Projects JU presented timelines which help plot out what needs doing and when and also a current reality tree for investigations. PR queried the involvement of HWB regarding the merger between the two CCGs. A discussion took place about how we have been involved to date. The CCGs intend to go out to public consultation, however this will be after Purdah. CW pointed out that non-responses from GPs is not uncommon. A discussion followed regarding HWB engagement with primary care and the challenge of achieving impact now in a health and social care system that 3
is going through long term change. CB stated that HWB has a responsibility to hold people to account and if we ve collated relevant information then we should be able to ask them what they are going to do about it. Commissioners need to take responsibility. BC suggested consideration be given to how HWB should respond to those who do not engage with research findings. CW suggested that we talk to the Chief Inspector of Primary Care who is Professor Steve Field, and is a GP. AC confirmed that CQC take on board HWB findings when preparing for inspections. DO asked JU to update the Board on progress in developing the investigative process. JU explained that it was always intended to carry out short investigations every 3 months. This has proved to be more difficult and takes more time. We are refining the way we work and how we get impact. We have learnt to be far more focussed. It is about working more cleverly now that we have the experience. There is very little time to do a complete study. Quality Accounts AC confirmed that HWB will be responding to 8 quality accounts this year. It was noted that hospices have not been included and it was agreed that there needs to be a full decision making process reported to the Board next year outlining which Quality Accounts we would respond to and why. Action AC to develop a decision making process to decide which Quality Accounts are looked at next year. AC stated that impact is very difficult to track as we do not always hear back from our requests. The process of consultations is now being looked at. AC confirmed that he would keep the board updated in the future. CB thanked Phil Morgan and Naomi Hawkins for their contribution to Healthwatch Birmingham. Thanks were also expressed to Jonathan Driffill who had recently stepped down from the Board. Everyone thanked Brian for his contributions as Chair and a short presentation took place. 5 HWB Chair Dealt with under item 3 above. 6 Any Other Business There was no other business to discuss. Meeting closed at 5.55 pm 4
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