Agenda item

In addition to the presentation by Natalie Davidson, Dr Katherine Packham also added the following information;

·         There is a wide range of information and resources including risk assessments on the www.gov.uk website to support businesses with the 5 ways of working guidelines to ensure their workplaces are Covid 19 Secure.

·         The government’s Public Health messages on keeping safe from Covid 19 still remain the very important and relevant although these are likely to be updated in the near future.

·         The Health Inequalities Action Plan which is in progress needs to continue, particularly in view of the impacts of Covid 19.

Following the presentations a number of questions were asked by Councillors, the responses are summarised below;

·         Oadby could have higher Covid 19 figures because of its older population and the fact there are more care homes in the area. Unfortunately at the moment the data cannot be split any lower than MSOA level.

·         It is probably not a coincidence that the data is similar to that of the city as the Borough has similar population density.

·         Multiple national studies have shown that many people who have died from Covid 19 also have other co morbidities.

·         The Public Health messages will most likely change and will be targeted to different communities, and community leaders will play a big part in communicating these messages when appropriate.

·         There isn’t local available data at the moment on patients who have recovered from Covid 19 but some insight has shown that in some cases patients are likely to have long lasting effects from the virus and will have to relearn certain tasks such as walking.

4a. Impact of Covid 19 on GP Surgeries and Hospitals – by Dr Vivek Varankantam and Dr Richard Palin

A presentation was delivered by Dr Vivek Varankantam and Dr Richard Palin on behalf of the different Primary Care Networks (PCN) in the Borough, on the impact Covid 19 has had to their working practices and their engagement with patients.

·         The NHS has gone to a command and control system where they receive guidance direct from the Government.

·         Patients can’t go into a GP practice at the moment unless for a pre-arranged appointment. This is to protect staff and patients but all the practices are open as a virtual service.

·         GP Practices have put patients into different cohorts to treat them depending on their circumstances i.e. the shielded group. GP’s have spent a lot of time refining these lists and ensuring they are accurate.

·         All GP Practices have gone to total triage model and are reviewing each patient virtually and via email first to determine which method of treatment is required.

·         The East Leicestershire CCG have set up the Oadby and Wigston Walk In Centre as a Hot Hub which is for patients they believe have Covid 19, as they want to see them all in one place.

·         A home visiting service has been established to treat patients that are both Covid 19 positive and negative when appropriate.

·         Hospitals and Mental Health Trusts have gone to virtual and telephone calls to treat patients.

·         Hospitals and GP Practices are now in the stage of trying to normalise primary and secondary care for patients and bring on as many services as possible safely.

·         All prescriptions are now being processed electronically

·         Local practices have embraced virtual, telephone and online services really well and are now seeing 95% of their patients this way. Practices want to continue this way of working to a certain degree.

·         GP Practices are supporting patients in Care Homes.

·         Local practices are already organising their Winter Flu Clinics but this process is complex as this would require patients who are vulnerable to Covid 19 to come into the surgery.

·         All GP Practices are learning from the experience in order to manage a second outbreak or wave if it occurs.

·         Smoking and Weight Management online services are up and running again. 

·         Cancer services have been maintained in the hospitals, the main message is that if you think you have Cancer you must go to your GP.

·         The main way the virus is transmitted is through coughing or getting droplets onto your hands and putting them into your mouth. Stainless steel is the material which the virus can live on the longest (72 hours). This is why handwashing is really key in stopping the spread of the virus and why some physical items will need to be quarantined.

4b. Impact of Covid 19 on Social Prescribing and Local Area Coordination Services Presentation by Mary Flynn, Sue Renton and John Barraclough.

4c. Oadby and Wigston Borough Council Community Hub Presentation by

David Gill

·         The Community Hub was set up in response to the Covid 19 Pandemic in order to support vulnerable residents in the Borough.

·         Nearly 8,000 potentially vulnerable residents were contacted by either phone or letter.

·         Initially the Community Hub was operating 7 days per week between the hours of 7am – 7pm which was the only model of this kind in the County. The hours have now been reduced to weekdays 9am – 5pm due to a decrease in demand.

·         Over 150 individual volunteers and 37 voluntary groups were recruited to support vulnerable residents.

·         Over 800 referrals have been completed by volunteers.

·         The main areas of support given to residents is shopping collection, prescription collection, food bank referrals, mental health support, befriending support and financial assessments.

·         The Council is currently engaging with the volunteers in order to retain as many as possible for other volunteering roles. Action: Kane Radford to arrange a meeting with VAL, LAC’s and Social Prescribers to discuss how to retain external volunteers.