Presentation of the Integrated Care Board – Director of Place (Darlington)
Minutes:
The Integrated Care Board – Director of Place (Darlington) provided members with a presentation covering the current clinical services strategy including diagnostic and treatment services.
Information was provided on the current numbers of patients in the Darlington catchment area, current screening services offered including fixed and mobile sites, with differentiations provided between screening and symptomatic services.
Post COVID recovery on both screening and symptomatic services was highlighted with screening services recovery from lockdown’s backlog being a point of note along with symptomatic services’ referrals increasing as normal service provision recommenced.
Challenges to the service were covered with workforce pressure remaining the greatest of these, on this point we were informed that additional staff are being trained in order to free-up consultant capacity in order to maintain quality of treatment.
Members wished to express that the numbers of screening uptake in Darlington is very encouraging and suggest that continual promotion of the importance of screening is vital. Officers agreed and highlighted the dichotomy that the high quality of service offered can adversely affect screening uptake due to less of the population being personally affected by breast cancer. A member questioned if residents who do not attend screening are repeatedly invited, and it was confirmed that they are however tackling fear and apprehension of attending screening remains a continual focus.
A member noted Darlington’s positive performance in service uptake in comparison to surrounding localities and asked the possible reason for this. Officers stated that exact reasons are not clear however population makeup and the presence of a popular and well-used hospital in Darlington Memorial Hospital are suspected contributing factors.
Discussion was held with regards to cultural barriers that may prevent attending screening with officers confirming that women’s health hubs aim for increased engagement to help target underrepresented individuals. Members questioned if individuals in susceptible families are being tested and that those who require screening are not being missed with officers confirming that every attempt is made to arrange services for those individuals.
RESOLVED – Members noted the content of the presentation and the quality of information provided.