Agenda item

Councillor Ian Bell, Chair of Health and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee

The Chair of the Health and Partnerships Scrutiny Committee submitted a report (previously circulated) together with the Final Report (also previously circulated) of the End of Life Care for People with Dementia Review Group.

The submitted report outlined the background to the establishment of the joint Review Group to look at end of life care for people with dementia in Darlington; the review group had met on a number of occasions to discuss a range of issues; and that following the Local Government Election on 2 May 2019 a number of Members involved in the review were no longer in post.

The Director of Public Health confirmed that the recommendations of the joint review group required consideration by the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group; and details were provided of the findings from the recent CQC inspection of County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust which found End of life care services to be outstanding.

Discussion ensued in respect of the recommendations within the final report, in particular the importance of ensuring people with dementia were included in any discussions in respect of their care whilst still they were still competent as this would achieve the best outcome for the individual, and as such, initial discussions in respect of advanced care planning should be initiated whilst the person with dementia was competent; and that a bespoke pathway would improve communication between organisations.

RESOLVED – (a) That the report be received with the following amendments:-

(i)            That Recommendation a) be amended to ‘That following diagnosis, advanced care planning be built into discussions as early as possible, ensuring that families and carers are involved.’

(ii)          That Recommendation c) be amended to ‘That a bespoke pathway be developed in conjunction with NHS Providers, St Teresa’s Hospice and care/nursing homes as this would improve communication.’

(b) That an update on the recommendations be provided by the Darlington NHS Clinical Commissioning Group to Members of this Scrutiny Committee in six months’ time.