Agenda item

To consider any questions submitted by Members of the Council, in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11 (b).

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11 one question had been submitted by the required deadline set out in the Constitution.

(A)          Health and Care Services in Royston

Councillor Matt Barnes to Councillor Elizabeth Dennis (Leader of the Council).

Audio recording – 6 minutes 7 seconds

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11, one question had been submitted by the required deadline set out in the Constitution.

(A)  Health and Care Services in Royston

Councillor Matt Barnes to Councillor Elizabeth Dennis (Leader of the Council).

“Following the Health and Care Act last year, NHS health and care services in Royston and surrounding villages have fallen under the remit of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System.

Please could the Leader update Members on the nature of any communications which have taken place between Council representatives and the Integrated Care Board – or the Integrated Care Partnership – since July 2022, on behalf of the residents of Royston?”

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis gave a response as follows:

“I think we have the bizarre situation that the alphabet soup end of whatever happens when the NHS is reorganised resulted in the anomaly of part of this district falling under a different integrated care system as a result of the way that care and commissioning works in that part of the NHS. So, I think firstly, it is important to note the reasons why Royston doesn’t sit as part of the Hertfordshire and West Essex integrated care system. In terms of the specifics of the question, the Director for Housing and Environmental Health has been in communication with the Chief Office Partnerships and Strategies of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS and she is also aware that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS invited Herts and West Essex to work with them regarding the community engagement exercise that was carried out in Royston, which I know colleagues from across multiple parties have been really active on trying to encourage residents to engage with us to ensure that their voices and feedback are heard as part of the survey and focus groups which were run over the summer. These exercises will help inform a strategic fit document that will be produced by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS, and we hope that will include an exercise around older adults and enhanced mental health and wellbeing support currently being funded actually by our Hertfordshire County Council’s public health department. Colleagues will be aware of certain examples that have been funded via that part. For example, the men’s health clubs that he been pioneered at Royston Leisure Centre. North Herts Council doesn’t deliver any services directly from NHS own sites in Royston, but as I have indicated there is close working between health and care partners which does need to continue to ensure the high-quality services for residents across the district and just because Royston is not included within the Herts and West Essex’s ICS doesn’t mean that that body is falling to consider the needs of those residents either. In fact, at a meeting of the integrated care partnership this afternoon in Stevenage, I raised the point in respect of Royston with health colleagues and they are continuing to work jointly with colleagues in Cambridge and Peterborough. The Heartlands West Essex’s ICB and ICS is significantly further ahead in terms of its development and strategy implementation than colleagues in Cambridge and Peterborough as well, so is ideally placed to help support the infrastructure that is over the border and I hope we can continue to work together to make sure that every single person in this district is supported and does have a voice when it comes down to their health”.

Councillor Barnes asked a supplementary question, as follows:

“How will the Leader ensure that the views of Royston’s residents will be listened to and their needs will be addressed?”

Councillor Dennis responded:

“I sit on the integrated care partnership and will continue to champion the needs of all residents in the Herts and West Essex space. As I said the Director of Housing and Environmental Health is also in communication with the Chief Officer at Cambridge and Peterborough as well, so we be continuing that ongoing work and continuing to lobby and ensure that people in Royston are represented. I think that all of us are acutely aware of the crisis in primary care within the NHS not just in this district, but across the entire country. I think there are things that this Council can continuing doing. I know that some Councillors in Royston have been working particularly hard around ensuring that certain NHS built assets like the Royston hospital are retained for public use and might potentially be utilised should the Cambridge and Peterborough ICS be minded to provide local primary services, such as a health hub, in the community and we all continue to work with our colleagues cross party and across all systems including the two ICSs covering the district and the county council to make sure that everybody is adequately represented. There are also creative things that we in local government are able to do to help support the health needs of our residents. Let’s not forget that we are able to provide safe homes, active communities, opportunities for leisure and healthy activity. We already have healthy hub that we provide, I have referenced the men’s club. There is outdoor gym that we have in place. So, this council is doing a considerable amount of work to support the health of all residents across the district, and we will keep on doing that”.