Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes from the meeting held on 7 November 2016.

The minutes of the meeting on 7 November 2016 were confirmed by the members present but were not signed by the chairman as the printed copy was not legible. She agreed to sign a legible copy at the next meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Cllr Brown, Cllr Hicks,Betty Harris, DrFernandes, and Tony Gallagher.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

None.

All of the matters arising were included in the agenda and formed part of the discussion during the meeting.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

To consider a request from Kevin Minier and Gordon Yearwood of the Dacorum Patients’ Group to speak regarding the future of acute care in Dacorum.

Kevin Minier and Gordon Yearwood of the Dacorum Patients Group put to the committee the DPG’s concerns regarding recent reductions in service and the future of acute care in Dacorum.

Councillors are invited to raise any isses within their Ward.

The councillors present relayed their thoughts and experiences to the committee and discussed the Gossoms End issue, raised by Cllr Ritchie, with the representatives of the Clinical commissioning Group, who responded with their views as Health professionals’ of current health provision in Herts.

To provide Members with an update since the last meeting held on Wednesday 14 September 2016.

The representatives from NHS Herts Valleys CCG gave the committee an update on current initiatives being considered for health care in Herts and shared their views on future developments for future provision of the services: including the future of the Watford Hospital Site; Care in the Community and the campaigns and initiatives being introduced to improve health across the county.

Cllrs Guest, Taylor, Maddern and Timmis again reinforced their view that health provision in Dacorum is reducing and is not adequate to the needs of the community. They stressed that the Borough Council has agreed to be more proactive in supporting the need for a hospital in Hemel Hempstead or on a green field site and would press this view with NHS England.

They re-iterated the view expressed at the last meeting that Dacorum Borough Council shows its proactive support of maintaining a hospital presence in West Herts in general and Dacorum in particular in the most appropriate location to give the people of Dacorum the best possible care.

Dependant on whether Senior Herts Health Authority officers are available and up to date report has been concluded.

Deferred awaiting consideration of the report-

Councillor W Wyatt-Lowe to provide Members with an update since the last meeting.

Deferred.

The committee considered the report from Cllr Maddern on the HCC Health Scrutiny Meeting held on 8th November 2016.

The work programme for the committee was considered.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 1 March 2017.

The date of the next meeting is on 1 March 2017.