Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee

Terms of Reference

The Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee oversees and scrutinises services and activities in relation to adult social care, public health, environmental health, trading standards, registrars, leisure, culture and museums in Darlington.

View a more detailed terms of reference for the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee - pdf document  

Meetings of the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee

Ordinary meetings of the Scrutiny Committee take place every two months and are generally open to all members of the public, except where an item to be considered is of a confidential nature.

Below is a list of Committee Meeting dates for the Municipal Year 2008/09.

The Scrutiny Committee submits an update report to each meeting of full Council on the work undertaken by the Committee.  View a summary of the work of the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee over the last eight weeks. 

Membership 2008/09

The Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee consists of 11 Members of the Council and is politically balanced to include 6 Labour, 4 Conservative and 1 Liberal Democrat Member.  Details of the membership is shown in the table below:

Municipal Year 2007/08

View the agenda and papers for meetings of Health & Well Being Scrutiny Committee held in the Municipal Year 2007/08 and previous years(including the work of the Social Affairs & Health Scrutiny Committee).

Review Groups

As part of the Committee's ongoing work and as a result its Reviews and recommendations to Cabinet, there have been a number of positive outcomes and improvements made to both service delivery and the facilities available to the people of Darlington.  View the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee's Review Group page for further details.

Visit to Ambulance Trust

Members of the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee visited the Pallion Fleet Ambulance Station in Sunderland, on Friday 21st December 2007, as part of the Annual Health Check. Chair of the Group Councillor Ian Haszeldine requested the visit following concerns about infection control in ambulances. Councillor Hasezldine was delighted that the delegation had the opportunity visiting the hub of cleaning pratices for ambulances and checking that adequate procedures were in place and being adhered too.  Members were satisfied with everything that they witnessed and were confident that the Ambulance Service had abolished their concerns.

Members  of the Health & Well Being Scrutiny Committee visit the Pallion Fleet Ambulance Station on Friday 21st December 2008. (From left to right: Colin Cressford (Director of Clinical Standards & Strategy), Geoff Craik (Fleet Manager), George Gray (Assistant Operation Support Manager - Fleet), Councillor Ian Haszeldine and Councillor Marian Swift. 

Health Scrutiny

The introduction of new health scrutiny powers for local authorities with social services responsibilities came into force on 1st January, 2003, following the introduction and combination of the following pieces of legislation:

• Local Government Act 2000
• Health and Social Care Act 2001
• Local Authority Regulations (Overview and Scrutiny Committees Health Scrutiny Functions) Regulations 2002
• NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002

This legislation gives Darlington Borough Council the power to scrutinise the heatlh services provided by the local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts and this is commonly referred to as 'Health Scrutiny'.

In building on local authorities' responsibilities to promote the well being of their communities, health scrutiny is wide ranging.  As well as scrutinising the roles and activities of NHS bodies in planning, commissioning and providing health services, health scrutiny can also focus on local health inequalities and services that impact upon health.

As part of these new powers, the Committee has the right to be consulted on any proposed substantial variation to a local health service and may call NHS managers to give information to the Committee about the decisions they make.

In developing links with health partners the Committee meets with the Chief Executives of the four NHS Trusts, which provide health services to Darlington, on an annual basis to discuss areas of planning and development.

The local Trusts for Darlington include:

• Darlington Primary Care Trust (PCT) View the PCT's website
• County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. View the Foundation Trust's website
• Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust. View the Priority Services Trust 's website
• North East Ambulance Service.  View the North East Ambulance Service website

"Scrutiny is about Councillors working alongside providers, partners and local people to improve policies and services.  By working effectively with Cabinet Members, Chief Officers and our local partner organisations, the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee aims to identify and encourage the development and implementation of policies and practices which improve social care and health services and reduce health inequalities for the people of Darlington.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our webpage.  Please have a look at the issues we have considered and the current work we are undertaking, and if there are any areas you are particularly interested in, or if you would like to attend a meeting or take part in one of our current reviews please contact democratic@darlington.gov.uk ."

Councillor Marian Swift
Chair of the Health and Well Being Scrutiny Committee marian.swift@darlington.gov.uk

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