Report of the Chair, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning

This report provides an update on the current recovery of health and social care services as part of the system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee considered the report of the Chair, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning that provided an update on the current recovery of health and social care services as part of the system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT).  Noting that COVID-19 (Covid) had had a much broader impact on the health and wellbeing on the people of Manchester.  The report further described the development of a strategic recovery framework that captured the breadth of the health and social care system’s response within the recovery phase.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·                Describing the position in relation to COVID-19, impact and continued planning;

·                The Impact of COVID-19 on Long Waits and the associated response planning;

·                Progress on Recovery Workstreams;

·                Information in relation to a range of activities including Urgent Care and flows, diagnostics and cancer treatment;

·                Update on outpatient activity and associated response;

·                An update on the work of the Manchester Local Care Organisation (MLCO); and

·                Describing the strategic recovery framework and the four themes with associated outcomes metrics.

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

·                An explanation had been sought as to why the figures reported were significantly higher than the national average for the number of patients waiting more than 52 weeks for elective treatment;

·                Noting that whilst the impact of COVID-19 could not be underestimated, however there was a need to acknowledge that delays in elective surgery existed prior to the pandemic;

·                Based on the COVID-19 modelling at the Hospital, how confident was the Trust in the modelling that had been undertaken ahead of the winter period;

·                How confident was the Trust that the Patient Initiated Follow-up (PIFU) plans that would enable patients with suitable conditions to manage their own condition better without the need to attend routine follow-up would not result in people becoming more ill;

·                Comparative performance data would have been useful in the report across the range of described activity; and

·                None of the Board Members at MFT were from the BAME community.

The Director of Turnaround, MFT advised that the position in relation to the 52 week figure for patients awaiting elective treatment had been challenging before the pandemic. He advised that COVID-19 had exacerbated this situation with bed space being allocated to manage COVID-19 patients and staff being redeployed to different duties. He stated that COVID-19 had also impacted on the work force in the same way it had across the general population.

The Director of Turnaround, MFT stated that whilst progress was being made COVID-19 had undoubtedly impacted on the ability to increase elective surgery. He concluded by informing the Committee that MFT continued to treat the most clinically urgent patients, and the longest waiters were prioritised for treatment through elective surgical committee processes. In response to specific questions regarding comparative data across a range of activities he stated this would be provided following the meeting.

The Quality Lead, MHCC responded to the concern expressed regarding Patient Initiated Follow-up by stating that each case was assessed on an individual basis and patient safety was assessed to ensure this was an appropriate care pathway.

The Quality Lead, MHCC described that the modelling of patient flow was undertaken using a wide range of data sets and these were regularly reviewed and assessed to inform the modelling and winter planning.

Noting the impact of COVID-19 on the BAME population nationally and how this had directly impacted on the staff working across MFT this had brought into sharp relief the issue of health inequalities and work was underway within the Trust to escalate the work to address health inequalities. The Chair commented that the October meeting would be dedicated to the issue of health inequalities and the work underway to address. She stated that the Committee would welcome a specific update on the work at MFT. 

The Chair concluded this item of business by thanking all those staff involved for their continued hard work and recognising the significant pressures and challenges they had experienced as a result of the pandemic.

Decision

The Committee note the report.