Agenda item

Agenda item

COVID-19 Update

Report of the Director of Public Health, Manchester City Council and Medical Director, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning

 

The Director of Public Health will deliver a presentation on the latest available data relating to Manchester and the ongoing implementation of the enhanced support area action plan.  A key element of the plan is the ongoing roll out of the Manchester Vaccination Programme and the Medical Director, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning, will provide the Committee with an update.  In addition, the Director of Public Health will highlight some of the key messages from the attached final draft of the Manchester Public Health Annual Report for 2020/21 before this report is presented to the Manchester Health and Wellbeing Board on 1 September 2021.  The report provides a summary record of all COVID related activity since the start of the pandemic.

 

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the joint presentation of the Director of Public Health and the Executive Clinical Director Manchester Health and Care Commissioning that provided an update on COVID-19 activity that included the latest available information on data and intelligence.

 

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

 

·         Welcoming the Public Health Annual Report;

·         The Committee expressed their continued confidence and support for the Public Health Team, NHS partners and all those involved in the vaccination programme;

·         What would the impact on the vaccination programme be if the Enhanced Support Status was withdrawn;

·         Was there sufficient capacity within the system come September to deliver the vaccination programme and the roll out of the booster jab;

·         Concern was expressed regarding the relaxation of the rules and the reopening of night clubs, describing these as 'super spreader events', noting the recent experience witnessed in the Netherlands;

·         Expressing concern regarding the levels of anti-vaccination and conspiracy theories that were circulating on social media, noting that young people in particular were recipients of these messages and this needed to be robustly challenged;

·         Were residents with vaccination appointments already booked for their second jab being actively contacted to bring this forward from 12 weeks to 8 weeks;

·         Was the number of confirmed positive cases as a result of the increased rates of testing;

·         Analysis was required to understand the relationship between the number of hospital admissions and those patients that were vaccinated and unvaccinated, noting this was a key message to encourage the take up of the vaccination;

·         Were the reasons for the shorter stays in hospitals experienced by COVID patients as a result of improved clinical care and learning from previous waves;

·         Was testing data available by ethnicity;

·         How did Manchester compare with other comparable cities regarding vaccination rates; and

·         Continuing the call for central government to adequately fund and support the city to respond to the pandemic.

 

The Director of Public Health advised that the city had benefited over a number of weeks from the Enhanced Response Area status. He commented that with the likely removal of this status other providers such as Community Pharmacy and allocated support and resources agreed across Greater Manchester would be utilised to continue this work, adding that pop up clinics and targeted interventions would continue to be delivered.

 

The Director of Public Health commented that national guidance was to be issued regarding the roll out of the booster programme from September onwards, however he reassured the Committee that planning and discussions were already underway across the system to prepare for this. He further stated that a proactive programme was underway to contact people with prebooked vaccination appointments to offer them an earlier date.

The Director of Public Health commented that there were risks associated with nightclubs due to the fact that they were unventilated, enclosed spaces where patrons were not required to wear a face mask. He stated that this was why the key message regarding coming forward to have the vaccine was so important. He further commented that discussions were already underway with the Compliance Team to plan for Pride and Park Life.   

The Director of Public Health commented that Manchester was comparable with a number of London boroughs in terms of demography, with particular reference to the younger population and the experiences, lessons learnt and best practice was being shared.

The Director of Public Health said that the data on testing and ethnicity was not currently available however this was collected geographically. He further commented that the relationship between the numbers of hospital admissions and patients who were vaccinated was being collected and he suggested that colleagues from Manchester Foundation Trust NHS Hospital could contribute to future updates on this specific issue. The Chair welcomed this suggestion and requested that this be included in future updates to the Committee.

He stated that clinicians and staff treating COVID patients in hospitals had taken the learning from previous waves and the Executive Director of Adult Social Services commented that the reduction in the time patients stayed in hospital had been assisted by the new hospital discharge regulations whereby patients were discharged as soon as medically fit and their care and support needs assessed outside of an acute ward, either in a discharge to assess bed or their own home.

 

Decisions

 

The Committee;

 

1. Notes the reports and presentation;

 

2. Express their continued confidence and support for the Public Health Team, NHS partners and all those involved in the vaccination programme; and

 

3. Recommend that Manchester Foundation Trust NHS Hospital contribute to future updates to the Committee in regard to the relationship between hospital COVID patient admissions and vaccination.

 

Supporting documents: