To consider any items which the Chair has agreed to have submitted as urgent.

The Chair introduced an item of urgent business by advising that she had requested the Interim Deputy Place Based Lead, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care and the Executive Director of Adult Social Services to address the Committee on the local response to the current national NHS crisis that had been widely reported in the media.

The Committee noted that an extraordinary meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee had been called for 22 February 2023 to specifically discuss the issues currently experienced by Manchester residents accessing acute NHS services. The Chair stated that this would be a further opportunity to discuss the points raised by the Committee at today’s meeting in further detail.

The Interim Deputy Place Based Lead, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care informed the Committee that the health service had experienced unprecedented demand since October 2022. He stated that these pressures were added to because of the increased incidents of Covid infection rates and an earlier start to the flu season, commenting that during the month of December, 500 patients had been admitted to hospital due to flu across Greater Manchester. He advised that this situation would continue to be monitored. He stated that these illnesses had also impacted on staff and front-line health workers that had also added to the pressures experienced across the service. He advised that the System Operation Response Task Force, which consisted of senior leaders and clinical practitioners across Greater Manchester had been meeting weekly, increasing to now daily to understand the levels of demand and manage resources appropriately system wide. He provided an example of mutual aid as being when other local district hospitals had responded to relieve bed pressures experienced at the Children’s Hospital, adding that this care had been managed by paediatric specialists.

In noting the industrial action being taken by Ambulance workers, the Interim Deputy Place Based Lead, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care advised that the impact of this was being closely monitored by the System Operation Response Task Force and urged anyone experiencing a life threating emergency to contact 999 immediately. He also advised the NHS 111 service was still available, both online and via the telephone.

The Executive Director of Adult Social Services described the established multi-disciplinary teams that worked to manage patient flow. She described that Patient Target Lists were reviewed daily, six days a week to discuss and facilitate the safe discharge of patients into the most appropriate setting with the appropriate care pathways using the discharge to assess approach. She stated that data and activity was monitored at the Integrated Care Control Room, using real time data obtained via the Hive System. She also advised that Winter Discharge Monies had been used to support people living safely in their own homes, and this work had been supported by various Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise groups. She acknowledged that recruitment and retention of staff remained an issue nationally across the Adult Social Care sector, however work was ongoing locally with providers to address this. She commented that it was recognised that staff were the best and most important asset and a workforce development plan had been agreed that sought to support and develop existing staff, including the use of apprenticeships. She further noted the commitment to paying the Real Living Wage in Manchester.

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care stated that the Government had repeatedly failed to adequately fund both the NHS and Adult Social Care, noting that across Greater Manchester there had been a funding shortfall of £430m. He stated that despite this Manchester had continued to respond to the challenge and sought innovative approaches to support the most vulnerable residents of the city. He stated that the legacy of genuine partnership working across all stakeholders that had been established across Greater Manchester following the Devolution arrangements had supported and enabled such a positive response, adding that avoiding the need to call a major critical incident in Manchester was testimony to this.   

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care further advised that he would continue to provide briefings to Members outside of the formal Committee process to ensure they remained up to date with emerging issues.

The Committee thanked officers and the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care for their update. A member noted that at the time of the meeting the Times newspaper was running a headline that reported there were currently 1000 excess deaths per week due to the national crisis in the NHS. The Committee stated that sole responsibility for this current crisis was as a direct result of the Government.

Members also discussed the impact that this ongoing crisis would be having on other important NHS Services, such as screening and other preventative initiatives due to staff and resources being redirected.

The Committee paid tribute to all staff and frontline workers working within the NHS and expressed their support and solidarity with those striking staff, adding that these workers had been left with no other option than to take industrial action.

The Committee recommended that the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care, in consultation with the Chair and all Manchester MPs writes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to invite him to Manchester so he can meet with the Committee so that they can discuss the case for increased NHS funding in Manchester. A Member noted that if the invitation was refused a delegation should visit the Department of Health and Social Care to present the case for Manchester.

Decision

The Committee recommended that the Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care, in consultation with the Chair and all Manchester MPs writes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to invite him to Manchester so the Committee can present the case for increased NHS funding in Manchester.