To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 4 September 2019 as a correct record

Resolved: That the Minutes of the Health Liaison Board held on 4 September 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered.

For reasons of transparency Cllr Parkin declared that she was a user of the G4S Transport Service.

Members considered the report detailing the work undertaken by West Kent CCG to improve the health facilities in Edenbridge. The Chairman advised that unfortunately, the presenter from the CCG was also unable to attend the meeting to provide a further update.

The Head of Housing and Health advised Members that the Planning application had been submitted to the Council for the health facility in Edenbridge. The Health facility would encompass GP services, physiotherapy as well as other hospital services into one central hub. There would be no provision for overnight beds. Members discussed the Sevenoaks Hub and the list of services that were anticipated to be at the hub would be provided to Members.

Members discussed the positive way forward with the health hubs, particularly as cross referrals would be easier with more services being provided in one location, and expressed an interest in knowing further details regarding the hospital hubs across the district.

Resolved: that Members comments were noted.

The Chairman advised that the presenters from G4S and West Kent CCG were unable to attend to attend the meeting.

Members considered the report which set out that in 2016, all NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG’s), the GP-led organisations who plan and deliver health services across Kent, commissioned a new contractor to provide non-emergency patient transport.

The contract for this service was awarded to G4S, who currently operated the service across Kent. The service provided non-emergency transport to residents who were unable to travel to and from a hospital or NHS appointment due to their health. Additional information detailing the eligibility criteria and other Community and voluntary transport schemes were tabled.

Members discussed the eligibility criteria and shared their personal and wider experiences of the services. It was noted particularly by Members that users were expected to be ready two to three hours in advance, this could cause problems for those who had appointments at 9am, but in general hospitals were accommodating to move 9am appointments if it was known that hospital transport was being used.

Transport was of concern to the Senior Actions Forum, as many did not know what they were entitled to with hospital transport and in many rural locations there was a lack of public transport. It was shared by a Member that Go Coach were developing shared taxis’ for transport to hospital with wheelchair access. This was initially being developed within the Sevenoaks Town.  Voluntary transport groups were discussed that Members were aware of. There was one in West Kingsdown which was a community led scheme. It was only wheelchair accessible if the wheelchair could fit in the car separately. It was thought that there weren’t any community schemes in Swanley due to a lack of volunteer drivers.

The Head of Housing and Health tabled a recently printed leaflet which detailed other voluntary transport groups that were available within the District. She advised that there was the Kent 4x4 voluntary group that could be called upon in times of bad weather.

Resolved: That the report and Members comments be noted.

Members shared their experience of the NHS and the services provided. Concerns were raised at how the service was overstretched and some of the processes were long and confusing for many users. Other areas of concern, Members raised were appointment times and the retention of GPs and how this was affecting residents and NHS Dentistry Services. A list of these services would be provided to Members.

The Head of Housing and Health advised that a letter was being written to the Leader of Kent County Council regarding health in the district and some of the issues raised by Members could be included. Members were informed of the Council’s current support internship programme and it was proving to be successful.

Members discussed the work plan. It was agreed that following discussions the following items would be included.

·         Hospital Patient Transport with G4S in attendance

·         Sevenoaks District Health Hubs including Sevenoaks Town and services for Swanley and

·         District Nurses