Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from County Borough Councillors P Binning, S J Davies, J Elliott, D Evans, S Evans, D Grehan, H Gronow, K Morgan, M Norris, D Owen-Jones, D Parkin, S Powderhill, M Powell, W Treeby, J Turner, D Williams, T Williams and R Yeo.

To receive disclosures of personal interests from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

1.     Members are requested to identify the item number and subject that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest;and

2.     Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when theyleave.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the following declarations were made pertaining to the agenda:

County Borough Councillor S Morgans – “My daughter is a nurse at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital”

County Borough Councillor G Caple – “My son is a doctor and employed by the Local Health Board”

County Borough Councillor S Evans – “I work for the Cwm Taf Health Board”.

County Borough Councillor K Johnson – “My wife is a nurse for Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board”

County Borough Councillor S Trask – “My wife is employed by the Welsh NHS”

County Borough Councillor M Ashford – “My wife works at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital”

County Borough Councillor R Lewis – “I have a close family member who

works for the NHS”.

County Borough Councillor C Middle – “My sister works for the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board”

Note: A declaration of interest was made later in the meeting as follows:

County Borough Councillor R Yeo – “My wife works for the NHS”

To receive representatives from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, providing Members with opportunity for discussion and updates in respect of Winter pressures and other strategic issues.

The Presiding Officer introduced the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board representatives and advised Members that they will be covering items as indicated on the agenda, he acknowledged Members’ concerns regarding the changes with rapid response vehicles but pointed out that these are matters for the Welsh Ambulance Trust. The Presiding Officer advised that any further questions should be addressed to the Cwm Taf University Health Board for a response via the Council’s Democratic Services.

The Chairman of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Mr Emrys Elias introduced himself and five members of the Executive team, Mr P Mears, Chief Executive, Suzanne Hardacre, Director of Midwifery, Gynaecology & Integrated Sexual Health, Sarah Bradley & David Miller Operations Leadership & Medical Leadership for Primary & Community Care and Mr Gethin Hughes, Chief Operating Officer.

Through the aid of PowerPoint slides the representatives of the Cwm Taf University presented an overview of key matters under the following headings:

• Maternity & Neonatal Services Update
• Primary Care Update
• Winter Pressures

The Leader of the Council thanked members of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board for their presentation and virtual attendance at the council meeting.

The Leader referred to the Maternity & Neonatal Services update and added that he had valued his many discussions and regular briefings with Mick Giannassi, the Chair of the Independent Maternity Oversight Panel, on the recommendations, progress made and patient feedback. He queried whether the previous short fallings in staffing levels had now improved? He also referred to the three reports by Audit Office Wales on the failings to meet the Health Board’s response targets within the required timescales and the quality of the responses and the Leader asked for an update on this matter. He also requested a further update from the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board on the Neonatal services following the Midwifery review.

The Leader raised a query regarding GP Services and particularly what appears to be a postcode lottery across the County Borough in relation to GP appointments. The Leader sought clarification as to how the Health Board is supporting GP practices with the costs of locum Doctors. He reminded Members that the Council has continued to support the Health Board with promotion of its Flu and Covid vaccine programme whilst supporting its own staff with the flu vaccine. He added that the close working relationship between the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board and the Council has continued with regular meetings which will assist to jointly address the winter pressures.

The Leader was pleased to see the re-opening of the Minor Injuries Unit within the Cwm Cynon Hospital. He acknowledged the positive work that the Health Board is undertaking to address the backlog of elective surgery and praised their efforts to tackle this problem.

Mr Paul Mears responded to the queries raised by the Leader such as the safe staffing levels within the Maternity Services which he described as levels being ‘where they need to be’ with staffing levels being monitored routinely to ensure they are safe. He added that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.