Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor John Riley and it was noted that Councillor Devi Radia would be arriving a little late.

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

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 June 2018 be agreed as a correct record. 

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting. 

Michael Sobell Hospice Charity

Ms Judi Byrne, Chief Executive at Michael Sobell Hospice Charity (MSHC), advised that an announcement had recently been made that the building housing the Hospice was no longer fit for purpose and the patients had been temporarily relocated to acute cancer wards within Mount Vernon Hospital.  The structure had originally been bought by MSHC 40 years ago and had been given a life expectancy of 20 years.  It was immediately gifted to Hillingdon NHS Trust which rented the facility out to East and North Herts NHS Trust (ENH) for the Hospice service provision.  THH was the landlord and had a rental agreement to share the site, property and services with ENH.

Councillor John Hensley, a Trustee of MSHC, advised that there had been no formal communication regarding the reasons for the closure of the Hospice.  On 24 May 2018, NHS Property Services (NHSPS) had advised the MSHC Board that it would close the Hospice.  Although an offer had been made by MSHC to undertake joint communications with NHSPS about the closure, this offer had not been taken up and, as a result, fundraising by the charity had been hampered.  Volunteers had been asked to continue to support the charity which would continue to fully fund the day centre provision. 

It was noted that, although the charity had been supporting the Hospice for 40 years, the service was provided by ENH.  Listening and engagement events were being planned for patients, staff and volunteers to look at the service and review the model of care for the future.  The MSHC Board would be looking at the model of care to ensure that it was fit for purpose and would be reviewing possible alternative locations.  Ms Byrne advised that the charity was very keen to work with health colleagues to review the palliative and end of life services provided in the North of the Borough. 

Harlington Hospice in the South of the Borough provided very similar services to Michael Sobell Hospice and these were equally valuable to residents.  However, for some residents in the North of the Borough, travelling to Harlington Hospice would become a significant event if this were the only service available.  Dr Veno Suri, Assistant Vice Chairman at Hillingdon Local Medical Committee, advised that effectively managing the current situation would be essential to end of life patients in the North of the Borough.  He noted that GPs would regularly contact the MSH for advice and that, as this relationship was critical for the care of patients, it was essential that a suitable alternative was found. 

A petition with 6,000 signatories about the closure had been presented to the charity, which Ms Byrne had then passed to ENH on 9 July 2018. 

Mr Imran Devji stated that The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust would support the charity in any way it could.  He went on to note that the recent protest that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s Work Programme.  It was noted that the next meeting on 6 September 2018 would be looking at crime and disorder.  Chief Superintendent Paul Martin from the local Basic Command Unit (BCU) had been invited to attend the meeting to provide Members with updates on knife crime in the Borough, the closure of the child friendly suite in Northwood and the effectiveness of the new BCU arrangements.  If there were any areas identified at this meeting for more in-depth scrutiny, this could be scheduled into the work programme. 

It was agreed that the Committee would undertake a review of cancer screening and diagnostics in the Borough and that a scoping report would be drafted for consideration at the Committee’s next meeting on 6 September 2018. 

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme be noted.