Agenda item

Agenda item

COVID19 Update

Report of the Director of Public Health

 

In October the Committee received the latest version of the Manchester 12 Point COVID-19 Action Plan. This report provides a brief update on some aspects of the Plan. In relation to Point 1 of the Plan (Data and Intelligence) the DPH will provide a presentation to the Committee on the latest available information.

 

Appended to this report is a copy of the presentation that will be delivered by the Director of Public Health at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health that described that in October the Committee had received the latest version of the Manchester 12 Point COVID-19 Action Plan. This report and accompanying presentation provided a brief update on some aspects of the Plan.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

 

·         What was the impact of Tier 3 in reducing rates of infection;

·         Did Manchester hospitals still have capacity to deliver non covid related services;

·         Every citizen needed to take personal responsibility to prevent infection by observing Public Health guidance;

·         Supporting the continued work of the Manchester Care Homes Board;

·         Continuing the Committee’s support for increased local control of a Test and Trace service;

·         Noting the introduction of mass testing in Liverpool, would this be introduced in Manchester;

·         Recognising the need to support NHS staff;

·         Recognising the importance for family contact for people living in care homes, particularly for those with dementia;

 

The Director of Public Health responded by stating that the impacts of any restrictions would not be realised for approximately 2-3 weeks later, and this would allow for comparisons to be made. He stated that it was important that all lessons learnt from interventions were understood to help inform and plan for future outbreaks. He supported the comment of the Member regarding personal responsibility for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and commented that the latest lockdown was an opportunity to reduce the rated of infection and strengthen the test and trace service.

 

In response to the question regarding hospital services, the Director of Public Health stated that sites were taking a pragmatic approach to the changing situation. He stated that currently Emergency Services continued to be provided.  Katy Calvin Thomas, Acting Chief Executive, Manchester Local Care Organisation added that there were approximately 300 COVID cases across Manchester hospitals and this was being managed, with additional capacity being created in intensive care settings. She described that work continued with partners to safely discharge patients to release bed capacity in hospitals, with the support of the Manchester Care Homes Board. She stated that the ambition was to maintain all hospital services safely for as long as possible, adding this situation was constantly monitored using the lessons learnt from the first wave experienced in March. 

 

In response to a specific question regarding the management of COVID cases on a general hospital ward, the Director of Public Health described the protocols that were in place to manage these. He further commented that the number of outbreaks in schools had been restricted to single cases or small clusters and he remained confident that schools were COVID secure.

 

The Acting Chief Executive, Manchester Local Care Organisation stated that NHS staff sickness was monitored to ensure staff were safe and a programme of staff testing had been developed.

 

The Executive Director of Adult Social Services acknowledged the importance of maintaining contact for people residing in care homes. She said that work was being developed to support this activity in a safe and responsible manner, such as sharing good practice and the use of pods to facilitate visits. She described that the provider sector was represented on Manchester Care Homes Board.

 

The Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing stated that the findings and outcomes of the pilot testing recently announced for Liverpool would be monitored to understand the logistics of such an approach, efficacy of the testing and the public response.

 

In concluding this item the Chair expressed his gratitude to all staff across all sectors who were working tirelessly to respond to the COVID pandemic and supporting the residents of Manchester.

 

Decisions

 

The Committee notes the report.

 

Supporting documents: