Agenda and minutes

Councillors Michael White and Judy Kelly had given their apologies for this meeting and Councillors Dominic Gilham and Shirley Harper-O’Neill had attended as substitutes.

To confirm that all items marked Part 1 will be considered in public and that any items marked Part 2 will be considered in private

RESOLVED: That all items of business be considered in public. 

Members were advised that there had been some unresolved issues with HAP UK and it had been mutually agreed to end the contract early, at the end of December 2009.  Groundwork Thames Valley (GTV) had agreed to take on the remainder of the contract as the host for Hillingdon LINk until 31 March 2011.  Very encouraging feedback had been received from the LINk and Board members about the progress Groundwork had made as the host. 

GTV was a long standing partner of the Council and had been asked to provide staff and manage the LINk contract at very short notice in an area with which it was unfamiliar.  HAP UK staff had been transferred across to GTV under TUPE regulations (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)).  

Mr Mick May, Group Managing Director at GTV, stated that, as GTV was an environmental regeneration charity, it had strayed outside of its usual area of expertise.  Whilst GTV was happy to keep the contract until 31 March 2011 and was happy to continue working with the Council on other projects, Mr May advised that GTV would not seek to renew the host contract. 

With regard to the future, Members were advised that the availability of future funding for the LINk was unclear.  Whatever the outcome, if Government funding was to be made available, it was almost inevitable that it would be at a much reduced level.  Clarity was needed on the situation - and soon. 

Concerns were expressed at the possibility that the Government might merge the LINk into Healthwatch which was practitioner-based and was more focussed on health than care.  Should the Government decide to make any significant changes, it was likely that changes in legislation would be required. 

Mr Graham Hawkes, Interim Manager of the Hillingdon LINk, thanked the Council, the support team and GTV for their support over the last few months.  Since GTV had taken over the contract, much work had been undertaken which included a new website with lots of features.  This website had been developed at less than a third of the cost of the previous website.  The support provided to the LINk had also increased from 15 hours per week to 74 hours per week with the possibility of this increasing to 96 hours per week.  The Mall Pavilions shopping centre had also provided free office accommodation to the LINk and had offered the use of a vacant shop at the centre for a minimal cost. 

Work had been undertaken by the LINk to engage with the community in a variety of ways which included events and liaising with groups such as Brunel University – particularly with hard to reach groups.  Further work had been done with Residents’ groups and the LINk had been involved in a number of specific issues (e.g., Hayes Town Medical Centre and the HESA medical extension, integration of Hillingdon Community Health (HCH) with Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust).  In total, it was believed that the LINk had engaged  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Ms Maria O’Brien, the Managing Director of Hillingdon Community Health (HCH), advised that there were 32 different community services delivered by HCH which were split between adult services and children’s services.  For 2010/2011, an additional £600k had been secured from the PCT commissioning arm to develop services.  Service developments that had already been established included the expansion of the community physiotherapy services, provision of ‘home’ phlebotomy service for housebound patients and the introduction of a new wound care service for ambulant patients.  Further work was being undertaken regarding the expansion of community rehabilitation services for Parkinson’s, dementia and stroke.

Other work included:

• The commencement of a new walk-in TB clinic in Hayes
• Expansion of the paediatric community nursing service
• Appointment of an additional 4 school nurses
• Appointment of a breast feeding co-ordinator

Ms O’Brien acknowledged that there was still room for improvement but that HCH’s performance was tracked monthly.  It was noted that the performance was now in the top quartile of community arms across London.  HCH had not performed well with regard to capturing ethnicity data and district nurse response times.  It was believed that, in reality, the district nurse response times were not a problem as it was actually a recording issue. 

In 2006, the policy direction was to separate the commissioning and provider arms of the PCT.  This strategy did not appear to have changed with the new coalition Government.  Monthly staff side meetings had been held with the unions and Ms O’Brien had four-weekly talks with the teams.  From this consultation with the staff, it was clear that an NHS solution was the preferred option.  It was noted that the GPs had also been involved in the process at all stages and concerns that they had raised had been resolved. 

It was noted that the internal separation of the commissioning and provider functions had taken place 18 months ago and was working well.  The external separation would need to be managed carefully to ensure that Residents were aware that there would not be a reduction in services or a change in access points (unless the commissioners decommissioned the service).

There had been a number of options considered with regard to how the PCT would externally separate the commissioning and provider functions which included:

• Joining with one or more existing provider arms to form a Community Foundation Trust – this was not a viable option
• Integrate with an Acute Trust
• Integrate with a Mental Health Trust
• Integrate with a local authority – this was explored in detail
• Form a social enterprise

A high level options appraisal was conducted in January 2010 including an appraisal of potential partners against the following criteria:

• Strategic fit
• Quality and innovation
• Leadership
• Financial viability

Hillingdon PCT reviewed all of the options in line with the above criteria and concluded that only two options were viable for short listing to the next stage of the process: Community Services Assessment Panel or Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL).  The perceived benefits  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.