Agenda item

Questions from the Public

To receive any questions from the public.

Minutes:

The Chairman opened the item referring to an article on the front page of the Maidenhead Advertiser which might have been of concern to residents. The statement said there was a £13m black hole in the finances to run vital services. He confirmed that headline was incorrect and that budget monitoring took place for every service area and was a necessary document required to ensure there was funding for every service area. The Chairman added that there was no need for any of the Borough’s residents to be concerned. There was no issue and the Council had to balance the budget by law.

 

Sheila Holmes of the Older Persons Partnership Board stated she found it interesting how the Health and Wellbeing Board never targeted older people specifically. She felt very strongly that older people don’t have a role within the Older Persons Partnership Board (OPPB) to report back and inform the Health and Wellbeing Board. Sheila stated the OPPB had a very good publication on end of life care which was informative and encouraged people to speak to family members on the issue. The OPPB had a lot of input from other services and they, as a group, wanted to contribute. The Chairman stated the Board would discuss it and look at ways the Board could include the OPPB.

 

Sheila Holmes stated the members of the OPPB had no idea about Windsor and Maidenhead Healthwatch being merged with the Bracknell branch and they were not asked opinions on plans for Healthwatch.

 

George Fussey asked if there was any room for the voluntary sector to clear a role in families realising burdens placed on the system in Accident and Emergency Departments. Dr Llewellyn replied that yes, there were roles in explaining what to expect, how long things could take and filling those roles by volunteers would be very helpful. Dr Hayter stated there was a role in supporting mental health and wellbeing within the NHS.

 

The Chairman said he had received a query on social media asking why all the Health and Wellbeing Board meetings took place during the day. He asked the Board for a view on that and asked if they wanted to consider holding the occasional meeting in the evening. Dr Llewellyn stated that the evening meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Board in Wokingham were the least attended by members of the public. The Chairman stated he would check across Berkshire and see how well other authorities Board meetings were attended in the evenings and consider a response. Dr Hayter stated the Council used Periscope regularly and suggested that could be a solution. Councillor Carroll said he was happy to take that back and see what could be done to arrange Periscope at Health and Wellbeing Board meetings.

 

A member of the public said that Royal Berks Hospital had a disability liaison nurse and asked if there would be one within the Frimley Trust. Dr Llewellyn confirmed there would be a disability liaison nurse or the equivalent within the Frimley Hospitals Trust.