POWYS Teaching Health Board (PTHB) chief executive, Carol Shillabeer, faces a grilling on Thursday, when she is supposed to appear in front of a group of county councillors.

On Thursday, September 26, Ms Shillabeer is due to appear at a meeting of Powys County Council’s (PCC) Health and Care scrutiny committee.

It was first proposed to ask Ms Shillabeer to come to a meeting in June as the committee discussed historical debts that PTHB owed the council – this issue has since been resolved.

The agenda for the meeting shows a list of 10 questions that will be put to the NHS boss on Thursday afternoon.

The questions have been refined following a discussion between Health and Care Scrutiny Chairman, Cllr Gwilym Williams (Conservative – Trecoed and Disserth), and Corporate Directors of Transformation, Vanessa Young and Social Services (Children’s and Adults) Alison Bulman.

The questions that Ms Shillabeer will face are:

  • Can you explain the purpose of community hospitals, what the capacity is in Powys and how this compares to the per head of the population with
  • other health boards?
  • How can community hospitals be used more effectively as a step up/down facility?
  •  How can we work together to achieve this?
  •  How far has PTHB embraced early intervention as a principle and how is this being recognised in practice?
  •  What progress has been made to resolve any historical disputed debts between PCC and PTHB
  • How is the PTHB working with PCC to support early (but appropriate) discharge from hospital?
  • What governance arrangements are in place to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the Continuing Healthcare assessment process to minimise delay for patients?
  • What is considered an appropriate occupancy rate for community hospitals.
  • What have the occupancy rates been for the community hospitals in Powys
  • and Glan Irfon over the last 12 months.
  • What are the barriers preventing the appropriate occupancy of these facilities?