Agenda item

5.1

Jeremy Short, on behalf of Sheffield Save Our NHS, asked the following questions:-

1.         COVID-19

It is widely accepted that the COVID 19 pandemic will significantly increase the demand on mental health services in the short and medium term. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned of a ‘tsunami of referrals’ to be expected. The most direct impact will be on frontline NHS and careworkers suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of weeks dealing with seriously ill and dying patients and clients. However, there are many other areas which will increase pressure on services, including:

•           Worsening mental health amongst those with a pre-existing condition

•           Impact of increased unemployment and financial insecurity

•           Anxiety amongst children returning to school while infections are still being passed on

•           Effects of loneliness due to prolonged lockdown especially amongst vulnerable people

•           Impact on BAME communities from above-average vulnerability to the virus

•           Women caught in abusive relationships

•           Frontline workers in retail, transport etc. suffering abuse from customers – and pressures maintaining safe working.

We note that the Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust has produced a strategy to cope with the impact of the pandemic. However, given that the Trust’s performance was found to be ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission in April this year, how confident is the Scrutiny Committee that the Trust is capable of delivering? In particular,

(a)       What additional financial and other resources is the Trust putting in place to meet the expected crisis?

(b)       Are there adequate supplies of PPE available for all mental health workers?

(c)        Is rapid and regular testing available for workers and clients?

(d)       Is there a commitment to resume face-to-face consultations when it is safe to do so?

2.         CQC Report on Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust

(a)       The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on the Trust in April found the Trust to be inadequate overall and requiring special measures. To date we have seen no apology from the Trust leadership to either users or staff who have suffered because of mismanagement. Does the Scrutiny Committee think it appropriate to ask for such an apology?

(b)       The CQC found 47 breaches of legal requirements across 8 regulations. How many of these have been rectified to date?

(c)        In Involve, the Trust’s magazine for members, it was stated that ‘you can check on our progress at www.shsc.nhs.uk’. However, there has been no update since an initial post on 29th April outlining 5 general areas for action. Although information is available buried in dense Board papers, why has the Trust posted no accessible update on its web-site for over 3 months during this critical period?

(d)       From the August Board meeting papers, it appears progress is being made in some areas, although even in these there are problems with inadequate reporting systems. Specifically, what action has been taken to:

i.          End mixed-sex accommodation to ensure safety

ii.         Provide an adequate number of inpatient beds (particularly with regard to expected increase in demand) 

iii.        Ensure all staff are aware of whistle-blowing procedures and the Speak Up Guardian

iv.        Ensure mandatory training will be carried out in the future

v.         Ensure adequate experienced staff are in post rather than relying on agency staff

(e)       Will the Council establish an independent inquiry, including trade unions and users, to investigate the running of the Trust?

3.         Finance and Management

(a)       Was the deterioration in the Trust’s services directly linked to the aim of achieving £7.1 million in ‘efficiency’ savings targeted as part of the Mental Health Transformation Programme in 2018-19?

(b)       Why was this found necessary when the Trust’s own accounts show a total of £15 million surpluses over the last two financial years and that cash reserves rose by £10 million to £51m in the year to March 2020?

(c)        Should the Trust not have been spending this money to ensure that adequate staff and resources were in place instead of allowing services to continue to deteriorate so dramatically over the last two years?

5.2

The Chair thanked Jeremy Short for his questions and said that, with his agreement, they would be shared with the Health and Social Care Trust.  She said that some of the questions would be answered during the meeting, but anything not answered would be put in writing and published in the public domain.  With regard to scrutiny, that was the reason for holding this and subsequent meetings.  With regard to the question asking that an apology be made, the Chair said that it was for the Trust to offer an apology, not within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee to ask for one.  Relating to the question regarding an independent inquiry, there were regulatory arrangements regarding this, however if the Scrutiny Committee felt that appropriate improvement was not being made, then action could be taken in the first instance, but ultimately it was up to the CQC to take responsibility for that and appropriate further action would be taken.