The Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Leicestershire County Council met on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, to discuss updates on adult community mental health services, performance in elective care, diagnostics and cancer services, and a broader health performance update for Leicestershire and Rutland. The meeting also included a presentation of petitions and time for questions from members.

CQC Inspection Update: LPT Adults Community Mental Health Services

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust's (LPT) adult community mental health services. The report was expected to summarise key findings, highlight areas of good and outstanding practice, and outline actions being taken to address areas for improvement, including the Trust's response to a CQC Warning Notice. The report indicated that the service had been rated 'Requires Improvement' overall, but had seen progress in several domains since the previous inspection. Areas for further improvement included outpatient waiting times, unfilled vacancies, and the detail and up-to-date nature of care and risk management plans. The CQC had issued a Warning Notice regarding outpatient waiting times, and the Trust was awaiting the outcome of a follow-up inspection in January 2026.

Elective Care, Diagnostics and Cancer Performance

A report from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) was scheduled to provide an update on elective care, diagnostics, and cancer operations. The report aimed to offer insight into UHL's elective care recovery progress and cancer waiting times, detailing work being undertaken to reduce patient waits. Pressures on these services were attributed to increasing demand, emergency activity, industrial action, and workforce shortages. The report indicated that while significant improvements had been made since 2022, with a reduction in patients waiting over 65 weeks for elective care, challenges remained. For diagnostics, there were over 5,000 patients waiting more than six weeks for a test. In cancer services, the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) for suspected cancer was at 72% in December, with breast services being a particular area of concern. Key actions to address these issues included increasing clinic activity, expanding diagnostic and theatre capacity, and utilising new facilities.

Health Performance Update

The committee was also scheduled to consider a joint report from the Director of Public Health, Law and Governance, and the ICS Performance Service, providing an update on public health and health system performance in Leicestershire and Rutland based on data available in late January 2026. This report was intended to provide an overview of performance issues for the committee's consideration and to check against other reports. The report detailed changes to the NHS Performance Assessment Framework for 2025/26, outlining national and local priorities for the health system, including targets for referral to treatment times, cancer waiting times, A&E performance, and access to general practice and mental health services. The report highlighted several alerts including maximised hospital bed occupancy, Referral To Treatment (RTT) waits remaining above plan, and cancer 62-day performance being behind plan. It also provided an update on public health outcomes, with analysis showing a mix of performance against national benchmarks, and detailed performance against the Better Care Fund plan.

Presentation of Petitions

The committee was scheduled to hear any petitions presented under Standing Order 36.

Question Time

The agenda included a slot for Question Time, where members could ask questions. The minutes of the previous meeting on 14 January 2026 indicated that questions had been raised regarding St. Mary's Birth Centre in Melton Mowbray and the provision of a second GP practice in Melton Mowbray.

Other Items

The agenda also included standard procedural items such as the confirmation of minutes from the previous meeting, questions asked by members under Standing Orders, advice on any urgent items, and declarations of interest and party whips. The date of the next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, 3 June 2026.