THE ROLE OF THE HEALTH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

Presentation to LINks Stakeholder Event

BACKGROUND

• Health and Social Care Act

• Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee

• Community Leadership

AIMS

• Ensure that health services are targeted towards achieving local health improvements, are accessible to and can be accessed by all local inhabitants

• Ensure that health services address the needs of the Bolton area and all of its inhabitants, including minorities and socially excluded groups

• Ensure that local health and health-related issues are tackled jointly across local agencies

DUTIES AND POWERS

• Be consulted by the NHS where there are major changes to health services

• Scrutinise the ongoing operation and planning of local health services

• Call NHS managers to give information and answer questions about services and decisions

• Take account of relevant information particularly from local PPIs

• Refer contested service changes to the Secretary of State

HEALTH SCRUTINY WILL NOT

• Act as a complaints service for individual patients and members of the public

• Be responsible for performance managing health there are a range of other bodies already undertaking this role

RELATIONSHIP WITH PPI

• Recognise important influencing and informing role

• Representatives invited to meetings of Health OSC

• Important contributor where changes to service models and methods of service delivery are planned

RELATIONSHIP WITH LINks

• Acknowledge change role

• Powerful role requiring service providers to respond to requests for information or to reports and recommendations made by LINks

• Can enter and view services

• Can refer issues to Health OSC for action

• Need to formalise new relationship