Agenda item

Councillor Margaret France has been asked to provide an update.

Councillor Margaret France, Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Partnerships gave an update on the Health and Adult Services Scrutiny Committee held on 18 September 2024.

NHS Shaping Care Together Update

Rob Cooper, Managing Director of Merseyside and West Lancashire NHS Trust presented this item. This was further to previous meetings and signifies the start of a more formal process.

Shaping Care Together (SCT) covers the areas of Southport, Formby and West Lancashire, and chiefly the two hospital sites of Southport and Ormskirk. This impacts across 2 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) i.e. NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB.

Public engagement took place in 2021-22 including Councillors and MPs, and underpins the case for change.

Urgent and Emergency Care to be the starting point, “make more efficient and effective use of available resources to provide better care and better value” and promises reduced waiting times at A&E and Urgent Care, better Urgent Care provided closer to home.

Case for Change, launched 26th July, is to be followed by Stakeholder Engagement, Options Appraisal, and Post Consultation Business Case, expected early next year. Requested of Committee a joint approach to substantial variation in health services affecting more than one local authority area.

Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB is divided into 4 Places; Chorley is in Central Lancashire Place, which together with Preston and South Ribble, and also includes West Lancs. Therefore any destabilisation of Ormskirk and Southport services could have consequences for Central Lancashire.

The SCT programme has distinct similarities to the Our Health Our Care programme which ran from 2018 to 2021 involving Chorley and Royal Preston Hospitals, which was abandoned when the New Hospitals Programme was launched.

Councillor France indicated that under the new Hospitals Programme, Royal Preston Hospital was to be replaced.

Speech and Language Assessment in Early Years Settings

This item was presented by Dr Ruksana Sardar Abram, Interim Consultant in Public Health.

Lancashire County Council’s priority “Best Start in Life (BSiL)”, led to the creation of the cBSiL Board, with a Strategic Operational Subgroup focussing on data and intelligence, parenting, workforce, speech and language, 1001 critical days, all with an aim to improve school readiness.

A new approach called The Balanced System has been piloted in Hyndburn. This involves early identification and intervention for Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) using multiagency partnerships working in close collaboration.

Following this approach, Hyndburn reduced the backlog of over 100 children waiting for assessment down to zero within a few months. The Balanced System is now rolled out in Preston and Rossendale, with the intention of reaching all 12 LCC Districts. Early Years practitioners and teachers have had training in recognising early signs of SLCN and supporting them, referring where appropriate but reducing the need for costly specialist intervention in later years.

Working Groups are now established in each District with a view to bringing colleagues together to support easy access to SLCN. As yet Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancs, Burnley and Pendle have no easy access method agreed.

Arising from queries from the Committee, Councillor France agreed to find out how to get involved with the Working Groups.

The Chair thanked Councillor France for her attendance.

Click here to view the agenda, draft minutes and webcst for the Health and Adult Services Scrutiny Committee of 18 September 24