Agenda item

Mark Atkinson, Director of System Commissioning & Operational Planning, NHS Kent and Medway, was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mark Atkinson, Director of System Commissioning & Operational Planning, NHS Kent and Medway, introduced the report and gave an overview of its content.

2.    There were no significant updates to the report since the date of publishing.

3.    In response to comments and questions it was said:

a.    A Member questioned the take-up of flu and coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines and whether it was due to end that week. Mr Atkinson shared that flu vaccines were available until the end of March 2025 and COVID-19 vaccines until the end of January 2025 but there was thought going into extending this.

b.    A Member queried the language used, such as pathways 0-3, highlighting that some may not understand it. Furthermore, questioning the support of the discharges for pathways 1-3 and the 144 beds in East Kent. Mr Atkinson provided an overview of the pathways:

                                                        i.     Pathway 0 - a simple discharge home. The national drive was to secure discharges before 12pm.

                                                       ii.     Pathway 1 - discharge home with domiciliary care. This was commissioned by KCC. In West Kent the provider was Kent Enablement at Home (KEAH) and in East Kent there was a collaborative model between KCC and Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT).

                                                     iii.     Pathway 2 - discharge to a community hospital. Work was underway with community providers to maximise efficiency.

                                                     iv.     Pathway 3 - discharge to a care home. Work was underway to secure a better value rate for placements, as well as reduce the number of patients on this pathway.

c.     In terms of the 144 beds in East Kent, there was an aim to create additional schemes in pathway 1 to grow the capacity, working with care homes to provide additional, non-hospital beds.

d.    A Member asked whether there was more granular data on the bed occupancy levels and the variation across the county. They questioned what would happen if bed occupancy reached 98%. Mr Atkinson responded that insufficient capacity was challenging, however the Kent and Medway region historically bounced back from challenging days quite quickly. He explained that occupancy levels were based on previous trends and it was important to maintain effective discharge pathways. He provided an overview of the situation in the local acute hospitals. He confirmed that bed numbers reflected core beds.

e.    A Member questioned why Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), COVID-19 and flu virus vaccinations were not promoted more widely. Mr Atkinson assured Members that the ICB had a communications plan in place to push prevention but agreed that more could be done. Work had been carried out around rescue packs for people with respiratory diseases, educational programmes for clinicians and risk stratification to identify patients of greater risk. A Member questioned why RSV vaccines had only been offered to older residents. Mr Atkinson had said that this was a national decision but offered to come back to Members with information.

f.      There was interest to see figures for Category 1 and 2 ambulance call outs, and Mr Atkinson said he would respond outside of the meeting.

g.    When asked how mental health support was incorporated into winter planning, Mr Atkinson explained that historic data evidenced there was no spike in instances of mental health crises over the Christmas period. Crisis support teams were available to support residents.

4.    RESOLVED that the report be noted and NHS Kent and Medway be requested to provide feedback on the performance of the winter plans at the Committee’s June meeting.