Health Scrutiny Committee Meeting- June Update.
Macc attended the Health Scrutiny Committee meeting on 22 June. The Assistant Director of Public Health provided the Covid-19 and vaccination update and said that the emphasis is still on increasing the numbers of vaccinations for older people (75 years and older) as there has been a drop off rate in people accessing the spring booster. The concern is for older and vulnerable residents like immune suppressed young people and specific communities like the Bangladeshi community where vaccination take up is low. Covid rates are increasing across all age groups and there has been some outbreaks in certain residential settings. There is infrastructure in place if there is another Covid-19 wave of infections. There has been support for Covid-19 tests to be available on a free basis again. Manchester City Council are supportive of this and have asked for this to be raised in Parliament. It was also noted that the World Health Organisation is looking to change the name of Monkeypox as it is inappropriate term.
The meeting included a report from St Mary’s Hospital as a response to the Ockenden Report (which was the report by Dame Ockenden as a review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust but which details 15 essential and immediate actions to be implemented for all maternity service providers.) The key points include what support there is for pregnant female prisoners, pregnant women with learning disabilities, and what is being done to train, recruit and retain midwifery nurses. There is now a dedicated midwifery practitioner based at HMP Styal. The report says that there needs to be more access for certain pregnant women including those who are in custody, experience disability, are homeless or live in a deprived area. Barriers need to be removed to enable them to access midwifery support. For example, pregnant women no longer need to be referred to midwifery services via a GP but can self refer directly. There are the maternity voices forums across the city (North, Central and South) to hear directly from those using the service. There are also plans to ensure the midwife teams are move diverse and are more representative of the communities they support.
The Manchester Equipment and Adaptations Partnership also provided a report explaining that the significant delay for people in need of specialist equipment has been reduced. By the end of September, there should only be a four week wait for referrals to see an assessment officer.
As part of the Housing Age Friendly strategy, the Extra Care Housing development programme has created 1,000 affordable apartments in the city in 15 housing schemes. These will also include three specialist dementia developments. The aim is to create high standard of living with on-site support for physical and mental health, social activities and short-term care for those leaving hospital.
You can access the recording of the June Health Scrutiny Committee meeting by accessing the following link here: https://vimeo.com/717500012
There is an ongoing invitation to VCSE colleagues to attend any of Scrutiny Committee meetings. Macc would encourage VCSE sector colleagues to attend any of the six Scrutiny Committee meetings, which are relevant to your organisation and or to send information that showcase the vital work your organisation does. Each Manchester City Council Scrutiny Committee meeting is open to the public, streamed live and recorded. For more information, visit https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=414...
The next Health Scrutiny Committee Meeting was held on Wednesday 20th July at 10am at in the Council Antechamber, Level 2, Manchester Town Hall Extension. The video of this meeting can be accessed at https://vimeo.com/729103287