Agenda item

To receive a presentation on winter pressures 2025/26 across Kirklees from Kirklees Health and Care Partnership.

Contact: Nicola Sylvester, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer.  Tel: 01484 221000.

The panel received a presentation on the Kirklees Health and Care System’s preparations for Winter 2025/26.

Cath Simms, Service Director, Adults Social Care Operations, Vicky Dutchburn, Interim Accountable Officer for Kirklees, Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Helen Juke, Locala, explained that plans had been developed early to allow time for embedding protocols and reviewing mutual aid governance. The system-wide draft submission had been due by 31st July 2025, with final plans expected by the end of August. Integrated partnership working had been demonstrated across key organisations including Kirklees ICB, local NHS trusts, Locala, Kirklees Council, Kirkwood Hospice, and voluntary sector partners. The plans had focused on shifting care from hospitals to the community, improving discharge and patient flow, and enhancing mental health support to avoid A&E attendance.

Seven urgent and emergency care priorities had been outlined, including ambulance response times for category 2 patients, reducing handover delays, improving emergency department throughput, and minimising long waits for mental health admissions and discharge-ready patients.

Joined-up care initiatives had included protocols for care home falls, urgent community response, virtual wards, and enhanced GP capacity. The Home First Discharge Pathway had been structured into five levels of support, ranging from discharge without new support to long-term care, with services tailored to individual needs and supported by multidisciplinary teams.

The presentation also addressed challenges in the domiciliary care market, which had been fragmented and unsustainable due to competition for limited commissioned hours. A new locality-based contract model was being developed for implementation in June 2026. Lessons from previous winters had informed improvements such as the introduction of discharge dashboards, streamlined transfer of care meetings, and enhanced coordination between acute trusts and hospice services. Additional winter support had included ARI hubs, extended primary care access, vaccination campaigns, and pharmacy-first referrals. Mental health discharge processes and governance escalation protocols had also been strengthened to ensure a more resilient system response

Questions and comments were invited from Members of the Health and Social Care, and Children’s Scrutiny Panels, and the following was raised:

• Members welcomed the move to locality-based domiciliary care, noting improvements in travel times, staff retention, and continuity of care.
• COVID-19 remained a factor in winter planning, with outbreaks still occurring and being managed as part of routine operations.
• Clarification was sought on whether the UEC (Urgent and Emergency Care) plan’s seven priorities were aspirational or achievable; it was confirmed that the system had accepted the challenge and was already making progress, particularly in reducing four-hour waits and ambulance handover delays.
• The figure of 30,000 patients waiting over 21 days for discharge was confirmed as a national metric, not specific to Kirklees, and members requested more localised data to better understand discharge pressures.
• Mental health discharge delays were discussed, with assurance given that system partners were working collaboratively to address housing and care coordination issues early in the patient journey.
• Members asked about the impact of winter pressures on community services, and were reassured that Kirklees had improved recruitment and retention, with demand and capacity modelling in place to maintain service delivery.
• Ambulance response times for category 2 patients were queried, such as those experiencing heart attacks, and were informed that West Yorkshire consistently achieved faster response times than national averages.
• The role of virtual wards in preventing hospital admissions was discussed, with plans to expand wraparound support and enable direct transfers from community teams to consultants.
• Contingency plans in the event of domiciliary care provider failure was questioned, it was confirmed that the local authority would ensure continuity of care, either through other providers or by stepping in directly if necessary.
• It was noted that no additional central government funding was expected for winter 2025/26, and that collaborative working and innovative practices were key to managing pressures and avoiding unnecessary admissions.

RESOLVED –

1)    That Officers be thanked for their attendance and presentation

2)    That the Winter Pressures update be noted.