Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Simon Arnold (Councillor Nicola Brightman was present as his substitute) and Councillor Vanessa Hurhangee (Councillor Alan Chapman was present as her substitute).

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

It was agreed that the minute on the redevelopment of Hillingdon Hospital be amended to include reference to the diversity of the Borough and to ask that Members make suggestions to The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Trust about possible minority groups that should be involved in the engagement activity. 

RESOLVED:  That, subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2020 be agreed as a correct record. 

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting.  He noted that the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC) review had started about eighteen months ago which had been prior to the announcement that Hillingdon would be getting a new hospital.  It had been thought unwise to wait for the development of a new Hillingdon Hospital to be agreed as this had been mooted as an aspiration for many years but had never been progressed.  The development of a new Hillingdon Hospital provided additional opportunities to join up services with MVCC.  It was queried whether the Mount Vernon site would be used during the development of the new hospital to decant/rehouse services on a temporary basis. 

Ms Jessamy Kinghorn, Head of Partnerships and Engagement at NHS England (NHSE) – East of England, noted that the patient engagement report had been shared with Members of the Committee in the previous year and that action had been taken to progress with implementing the findings of the report.  These actions had included the transfer of responsibility for staff and the transfer of the management of the cancer services to a cancer specialist.  At the start of 2020, the proposals had been assessed by a panel, which had included Healthwatch Hillingdon, and University College London Hospital (UCLH) had been appointed to take over the management of MVCC from East and North Herts (ENH).  It was stressed that it would only be the management of MVCC that would be passed over to UCLH and there were currently no proposals to relocate any of the services or staff elsewhere. 

Once UCLH had been selected, the due diligence process had started which looked at the management of risks and the TUPE transfer of staff.  It also looked for assurance that a long term plan for the provision of service had been secured.  However, this process had been taking longer than anticipated as the COVID-19 pandemic had then gripped the nation, staff had been redeployed to help deal with the implications of the pandemic and the programme had been paused. 

In August 2020, capacity became available to get the programme moving again and start Phase Two.  Clinicians and patients had been looking at pathways and stakeholder engagement.  Ms Kinghorn advised that system events had been undertaken to establish the local need (Integrated Care System (ICS) and Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP)) and a workshop had been held with the Healthwatch bodies from each of the 11 CCG areas covered by MVCC.  It had been suggested that the size of groups involved in the engagement be reduced and the number increased.  Consideration had been given to preventing the exclusion of groups from the engagement activities.  The Consultation Institute had also been engaged to give assurance of good quality consultation. 

The Committee was advised that the majority of patients seen at MVCC came from the areas covered by Herts Valley CCG (27%) and East and North Herts CCG (17%).  Hillingdon CCG had the third largest cohort of patients at 13%. 

Patients and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s Work Programme.  It was noted that all of the Trusts had been invited to attend the Committee’s next meeting on 10 November 2020.  In addition to the usual updates, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (THH) would be providing Members with an update on the hospital development proposals and the recent CQC inspection report which was expected to be published during October 2020. 

At the Committee’s last meeting, it had been agreed that Network Rail services along the Great Western line be considered at the meeting scheduled for 12 January 2021.  Members agreed that the following suggested areas be considered:

1.    the availability and effectiveness of communication with local residents about construction and noise for different works;

2.    the lack of bus access to West Drayton station;

3.    the lack of communication regarding access changes at Hayes station and station entrance closures;

4.    action taken by British Transport Police to reduce and prevent crime on the rail network in Hillingdon;

5.    the maintenance of the Network Rail land between properties and the line and dealing with fly tipping and vermin; and

6.    the impact of delays around the Crossrail development on the businesses and residents in the area. 

It was noted that the provision of post office services had been considered by the Committee at its meeting on 14 January 2020.  Following the recent court action regarding a faulty IT system, Members queried how this would impact on ensuring businesses signed up to provide post office services, how it had impacted on existing services and whether this would leave some areas without a service.  The lack of service in Heathrow Villages was already recognised which meant that some residents were having to travel long distances to access services.  It was agreed that this issue be considered at a future meeting. 

RESOLVED:  That:

1.    rail services be included as an item on the agenda for the meeting on 12 January 2021;

2.    post office services be included as a future agenda item; and

3.    the updated Work Programme be noted.