Backlogs and Covid-19 impact still hitting health services in South Tyneside, say chiefs
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At the latest meeting of NHS South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Governing Body concerns were lodged around issues such as increased pressures on dementia and mental health services.
It came as part of the latest performance report put forward by health chiefs, and praise was given to the ongoing work of staff across many areas.
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Hide AdHowever Paul Cuskin, lay member on South Tyneside CCG, said he had a number of concerns around dementia performance figures.
He said: “We’ve raised this many times before, but it’s certainly not improving, it’s 14.5 weeks until the first appointment with concerns that your loved ones got dementia, and 37.6 weeks until the diagnosis.
“They’re really disappointing performance standards for dementia.”
Speaking at the online meeting, he added there was also a lack of information around targets moving forward.
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Hide AdDeb Cornell, associate director for operations at the CCG, noted they would take the comments back and look to make improvements.
She said: “I think you’re right, I think there’s a bit more of a focused piece of work that needs to be done around all of that.”
Matthew Walmsley, chair of the CCG and GP in South Tyneside, also raised concerns over pressures in the demand for mental health beds.
He said: “I am a little concerned that we have had a mental health strategy over a number of years where we’ve deliberately focused on investment in community services in order to reduce our bedstock and our bed base for acute mental health.
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Hide Ad“If that is now coming under strain, that does concern me that maybe the community services that we put in place are maybe not delivering with the service that they should be.
“That is potentially a cause for strain on our acute bed base.”
It was noted this would be looked at in future meetings, and David Gallagher, chief officer covering Tees Valley CCG, pointed to the pressure all health services have been under due to Covid-19.