Cllr. Brookbank advised that he was the Chairman of the Kent County Council (KCC) Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee (HOSC). He reported that at the next meeting in July, NHS England and developing GP services would be discussed and the Board would be updated in September. He advised that there had been a HOSC area meeting where the CQC reported that there were 3 separate teams for General Practices (GPs), Hospitals and Care homes, not all procedures were in place yet as it had been a recent change.

He also informed the Board that Medway hospital was coming out of special measures and Pembury and Maidstone hospitals were showing signs of improvement. A further update would be provided in September.

Cllr. Dr. Canet expressed concern that Patient Transport Services were out to tender, led by West Kent CCG, and the difficulty people had getting to hospitals as the eligibility criteria was set nationally. 

Cllr. Parkin advised that she was a representative for Age Concern in Darent Valley and they owned their own day care centre in Fawkham.  It was hoped Dementia Training would be provided for the staff. The Health and Communities Manager advised that the training was something the District Council could help with. Cllr. Parkin informed Members there was a Dementia Café in West Kingsdown which had been running for 3 months. Cllr. Abraham informed the Board that he had attended the Dementia Friendly training and safeguarding training as part of the Member Inductions and there was a successful Dementia Friendly Café in Hartley.

Cllr. McArthur advised that she had been informed that a residential care facility in Edenbridge was to close in 3 weeks time. Cllr. Brookbank advised that if there were residents there under KCC’s Social Care they would be re-housed to a different location.

Cllr. Clark advised that he was the Chairman of the Children’s Centres steering group and expressed concern with the Children’s Centre’s due to the number of reorganisations that were taking place. He also advised that he attended a regional ‘Health Watch’ meeting which was a sub organisation of Health Watch England. Health Watch was the overarching organisation with statutory powers.  They represent the views of patients and make sure patients comments are feed into strategic and operational decision which affect how health and social care services were delivered.

Members discussed whether the Chief Executive of Health Watch Kent should be invited to a future meeting of the Board to advise the role of Health Watch and what they do. They were struggling to raise their awareness amongst residents.

Cllr. Mrs. Bosley had attended the West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Governing Body meeting. There was a Clinical Strategic Group who were investigating mental health needs, in particular adult health. She reported that the extension of GP hours was discussed and response had been sent in support of not extending hours as the elderly and children could access surgeries Monday to Friday, and these make up the majority of GP visits. There were still concerns at the number of retiring GPs and the issues surrounding recruitment.

The Health and Communities Manager advised that the Chief Executive had received a letter from the Director of Public Health at KCC giving advance notice of possible funding reductions, in line with the national 7.4% in year and recurrent public health savings. She advised that KCC had also issued a contract tender for a Strategic Partnership to lead on Mental Health contracts across West Kent. West Kent MIND (previously Sevenoaks Area Mind) were one of four applying for this contract in West Kent. 

The contract would be for 5 years to the value of 700,000 per annum. The lead Strategic Partner would be responsible for overseeing the commissioning of mental health providers and linking new and existing services to provide a comprehensive community mental health service. The Council would work with the organisation who was awarded this contract, which will commence from April 2016, to ensure strategic links are made with partners across the District.