The Committee had a three hour session on 31 January 2012 looking at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust, receiving detailed responses to issues raised as a result of our previous investigations in October and December in respect of both maternity services and wider aspects of governance at the Trust. This included changes to management and governance, developments in emergency services, improvements in the handling of follow-up appointments for out-patient, an update on steps taken to improve maternity services, an explanation about recently produced mortality statistics and details of work to improve breast cancer and screening services at Furness General Hospital. We were pleased to hear not only from various representatives of the acute Trust but from NHS Cumbria, Monitor, the Nursing & Midwifery Council and the Royal College of Nursing.
The Committee was informed that key reports are anticipated shortly in respect of
maternity services and on the management of the Trust. As well as this, a root cause
analysis of recent difficulties at A&E at Royal Lancaster Infirmary was promised to the committee. A special meeting of the Cumbria Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee is being arranged for 21 March 2012 to examine this extra information and the positions now reached by the two regulators, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission. The Committee is probably the only county forum where these matters can be publicly examined and we want to ensure that all reasonable steps are being taken to restore confidence in the trust’s capacity to deliver effective services.
On 31 January the committee also received a reassuring progress report on
measures put in place to catch up with the backlog of breast screenings in north
Cumbria. This work is on target and it is anticipated that the backlog will be cleared by the end of 2012. The committee also looked at ambulance response times across Cumbria which indicate a gradual improvement over the last three years. The contribution of first responders schemes in the county to these figures was acknowledged. The committee also examined plans to replace the existing local ambulance at Alston.
The Committee took an update on tackling obesity in the county. Recent figures
indicate a worsening of obesity among Year 6 pupils and the committee opted to refer the matter to the county council’s six local committees to explore what they could do to help reverse the trend.
Finally, the Committee took details on responses from District Councils to our call for a voluntary ban on smoking in children’s playgrounds and this is something I will be following up at a county workshop in March.