The Chairman will announce details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

The Chairman, Councillor Jason Frost welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained emergency measures for exiting the building should it be required.

To receive (if any)

Apologies were received from Councillors Julie Wilkes (Councillor Laurance Garrard substituted) and Sarah Edwards.

Members are invited to disclose any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.  Members may still declare an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 13^th February 2024 and authorise the Chairman to sign them

RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting held on the 13 February 2024 were agreed as a correct and accurate record. 

There was a question of Members allocated to the correct political parties in the last meeting minutes. After checking, the clerk confirmed the allocations were correct at the time; however, would subsequently check to ensure they stood correct going forward.

Ian Buckmaster, Executive Director & Company Secretary of Healthwatch Havering presented a report that detailed the work undertaken by Healthwatch Havering during the period of 2023-24.

It was explained that Healthwatch Havering submitted its annual report to the Sub-Committee periodically to scrutinise. The report attached from Healthwatch Havering covered the period of 2023-24 and Healthwatch Officers would highlight areas within the report they consider important for the Sub-Committee to scrutinise.

Healthwatch was there to ensure Havering Council and NHS leaders and decision-makers hear the voice of residents and they used that feedback to improve care. They also helped residents find reliable and trustworthy information and advice.

Members asked various questions and the following information was provided:

·         Healthwatch was not a scrutiny function as such, rather it was there to find out what residents thought of the various services provided and to feed that back to the Council and NHS. They also provided and information and advice when required.

·         There were issues with getting services for deaf resident within maternity care and this was due to the recognising the levels of deafness and interpreters available for other languages.

Members requested that they receive the weekly Healthwatch news lettter and anyone could register to receive this on the following link: https://www.healthwatchhavering.co.uk/advice-and-information/2024-02-19/our-friends-network-archive.

The Chair also suggested that Comms included the link and some information about the Friends Network in the next edition in Living and this was actioned.

The Sub- Committee did not wish to make any further recommendations.

RESOLVED that the Sub-Committee noted the report. 

Ian Buckmaster, Executive Director & Company Secretary of Healthwatch Havering presented a report that detailed the findings by Healthwatch Havering on Long COVID.

It was explained that there was an awareness of the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 virus and Healthwatch Havering had been investigating the effects that Havering Residents have been suffering from. The report covered Healthwatch Havering’s findings from various focus groups and Healthwatch Officers which highlighted areas that were considered important for the Sub-Committee to scrutinise.

Members asked various questions and the following information was provided:

·         There was not a huge list of participants and the largest numbers of patients correlated with the areas that had the least number of vaccination uptake.

·         There was an issue of awareness and impact of long COVID within the medical profession. Doctors needed training to deal with the specification involved in this. The issue was becoming more apparent and the case of ME whereby a coroner criticised doctor’s lack of knowledge around that.

·         There was a requirement to advertise engagement services and support around this.

The Sub- Committee did not wish to make any further recommendations.

RESOLVED that the Sub-Committee noted the report. 

Barbara Nicholls, Strategic Director of People presented the report that allowed for members to scrutinise the upcoming Cabinet decision on the Joint Havering Dementia Strategy for the period 2024-29 due at the November Cabinet Meeting.

It was explained that the Joint Havering Dementia Strategy for 2024-2029 was due for Cabinet approval in November. The Chairman requested the Cabinet Report be brought to the Sub-Committee for pre-decision scrutiny and to give members the opportunity to make any recommendations or comments to be included with the Cabinet report for Cabinet to consider and comment on.

Members asked various questions and the following information was provided:

·         There were a number of lifestyle changes recommended to reduce the risk of dementia, GP’s provided information to smokers etc.; however, there was scope for more education around this.

·         There was a strong desire expressed that staff had appropriate and specialised training; this was an operational suggestion whereby Barbara would check with the commission. Healthwatch could also make an effort in the regard. The current procedure was that any complaints went to the care agency.

·         In the Future aspirations section of the report, page 84, regeneration across the borough – changing places funding, looking for opportunity to fund it; this could be delivered without council or health service funding and one could look at a smarter way of delivering this through partnership working.

·         Risk register should be produced to show financial risks; there is a risk that if services are not there or not able to be sustained then some elements of the strategy could not be delivered.

RESOLVED that the Sub- Committee made the following recommendations to Cabinet:

1.    Give consideration to bringing forward the delivery of the 'Future Aspiration' entitled 'Improved signage in public places - exits and toilets' through the integration of this requirement into Council's regeneration programme and through engagement with key town centre partners (e.g. Shopping centre managers).

2.    Revise the Financial implications and risks section to acknowledge the delivery risks associated with elements of the Strategy which are reliant on the use of non-statutory services e.g. Local Area Coordination and Havering Volunteer Centre.

RESOLVED that this item would be deferred to a later date once clarification from the Monitoring Officer was received.