To receive and if so determined, to approve as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee held on 29 June 2015. 

DECISION: To approve the minutes of the meeting on 30 June 2015 as an accurate record.

To note any declarations of interest.

The following personal interests were declared:

Councillor Bruer-Morris declared a personal interest as a practice nurse at a GP practice in Manchester.

Councillor Chilton declared a personal interest as an employee of the General

Medical Council.

Representatives from Trafford CCG, CMFT, NHS England and UHSM will be

in attendance to provide an update to the Joint Committee on progress.

The Chair informed the Committee that apologies had been received from the representatives of both the University Hospital South Manchester (UHSM) and Central Manchester Foundation Trust Hospital (CMFT), and that no alternative representative had been nominated to attend the meeting. The Chair said this was very disappointing as the dates of the meetings had been agreed in consultation with the NHS and circulated in advance. The Chair said that the Committee had a legal and democratic right to scrutinise the local NHS and the failure of the NHS representatives to attend this meeting was disrespectful to the Committee. A member recommended that the Chair write to UHSM, CMFT, Trafford CCG and NHS England to re-iterate the functions and powers that are conferred upon the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee to monitor the impact of the New Health Deal for Trafford and the obligations upon representatives to attend meetings when they are convened. A member further recommended that the Secretary of State for Health also be sent a copy of the letter. The Committee agreed this recommendation.

The Committee welcomed Rob Bellingham (NHS England); Dr Nigel Guest, Gina Lawrence and Julie Crossley (Trafford CCG). Dr Guest introduced the report. Ms Lawrence said that funding had been secured from the Better Care Fund to support a team of Social Workers at UHSM to reduce delays in the discharge of patients and that the intention is to continue this support. A member commented that whilst she welcomed the reported measure implemented to reduce delays in discharging patients, she was disappointed to note that the pharmacy provision had been identified as a factor in delays. Dr Guest said that he would relay this to UHSM.

Ms Crossley said that to support patient discharge the number of step down beds provided at Ascott House, a residential care home will increase from 5 to 18. She said that this will be a phased increase in beds from October 2015 and will require the recruitment of additional nursing staff in line with recommended national staffing guidelines. In response to a member’s comment regarding the difficulties nationally in recruiting nursing staff Ms Crossley said that a number of options are being considered which will include secondment of nursing staff and formal recruitment process. Ms Crossley said that she would share the staffing model for Ascott House with the Committee.

A member noted that the discharge figures had slightly improved at UHSM and asked what winter resilience plans had been agreed to maintain this trend. Ms Lawrence said that the CCGs had devised a winter resilience plan and would be happy to share these with the Committee.

A member commented upon the £12m capital investment in the A&E Department at UHSM and sought assurance that this programme of work is still on-going. The Chair commented that it was disappointing that no representative of UHSM was in attendance to provide a progress report on this activity.

DECISION:

1. The Committee requested that the Chair write to UHSM, CMFT, Trafford CCG  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Representatives from the Healthier Together Project Team, Trafford CCG, CMFT and UHSM will be in attendance to provide a verbal update to the Joint Committee.

The Chair introduced this agenda item by informing the Committee that he had written to the Manchester and Trafford CCGs to confirm the view of the Manchester and Trafford Joint Health Scrutiny Committee that UHSM should be designated as a specialist hospital before the final decision was taken on the 15 July.

The Committee expressed their regret that UHSM had not been chosen as a

specialist hospital. The Chair said that the Manchester Health Scrutiny Committee had been informed that Healthier Together consultation process had been conducted over a three and half year period at the cost of £4m to the NHS. He said that that throughout the consultation process the public were informed of the criteria that would be applied, such as clinical and financial considerations on which any final decision was to be made. However the final decision to designate Stepping Hill as the fourth specialist site was reached to accommodate travel arrangements for the residents of the High Peak area – an issue only raised in the final year of the consultation.

A member commented upon the reputational damage to UHSM as a result of this decision and noted the judicial review being sought by a number of Consultants at UHSM.

Dr Guest said that the Healthier Together decision was reached as part of wider consideration given to the whole of Greater Manchester and he said that the decision would not affect the ability of UHSM to receive patients. He said that blue light ambulance responses will take patients to the appropriate hospital for those patients requiring emergency surgery.

Dr Guest said that there would be no material change to the provision of services provided at UHSM. He added that the development of shared teams across hospital sites will improve surgical teams and improve standards. He said that the establishment of such larger teams will allow them to share expertise, contribute to teaching and allow them to provide cover across sites. He said that this will make them an attractive proposition when recruiting consultants in the future.

Mr Bellingham said that NHS England had no role in the Healthier Together decision other than to ensure that correct process had been followed. He said that NHS England were satisfied that due process had been followed.

DECISCION:

1. The Committee regret the decision taken by the Committees in Common on 15 July 2015 not to designate UHSM as a specialist hospital site.

2. The Committee re-iterate the importance of the £12M capital investment for the Accident and Emergency Department at UHSM and request that this investment is fully implemented as soon as possible.

3. The Committee note that when the New Deal for Trafford decision was taken it was with the understanding that no services at UHSM would be withdrawn.

4. The Committee will continue to monitor the impact of the Healthier Together decision on the New Health Deal for Trafford.

5. The Committee requested that future update reports will include information detailing assessed risks identified and measures taken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.