Agenda and minutes

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

The Chairman advised that he had been in contact with the Managing Director of Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group with regard to the progress being made to reopen the Michael Sobell House inpatient hospice unit.  It would be important to ensure the right levels and quality of staff and then, once reopen, work would need to continue to look at the medium and long term future of the service.  Members were aware that site covered a large footprint which would potentially provide greater opportunities and were keen to ensure that the hospice remained co-located on the Mount Vernon site if at all possible. 

It was noted that the Chief Executive of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust had contacted the Chairman to advise that there was an upcoming review of cancer services provided at Mount Vernon Hospital.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2019 be agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting. 

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL)

Ms Maria O’Brien, Divisional Director of Operations at CNWL, advised that the Trust’s full Quality Account (QA) report had been circulated to Members and that the Committee’s response would be due by 3 May 2019.  It was noted that CNWL covered a very large geographical area and that not all of the information included in the report would be relevant to the community and mental health services provided in Hillingdon. 

Members were advised that the Trust had retained the same quality priorities for the last three years: patient and carer involvement; and staff engagement.  This continuity had provided a more rounded picture of trends and allowed time to embed changes which would not necessarily happen with a single year snapshot. 

Over the last year, a proactive steering group in Hillingdon (comprising service users and carers) had co-designed changes to the mental health pathway, produced a newsletter and created a discharge information booklet.  Service users had been involved in the recruitment of senior members of staff and there was now a large number of peer support workers in the Borough. 

CNWL continued to hold large engagement events with its stakeholders and had held a stakeholder Quality Account event on 1 March 2019.  Insofar as staff engagement was concerned, Members were advised that there had been a qualitative improvement with a big event being held each year for the last three years.  These events had encouraged a bottom up approach to change which staff had helped to shape and develop.  This year, the event had been attended by about 800 of CNWL’s 7,000 staff and the focus had been on wellbeing (for example, physiotherapy, resilience and stress pathways). 

Whilst some services within the Trust were fully on board with corporate engagement, there were other areas where it was more alien.  Some service areas that had not previously engaged in a meaningful way, had found the process to be both useful and rewarding (especially in relation to community services). 

Ms O’Brien advised that CNWL was a large organisation which afforded its staff opportunities to progress and change career.  This meant that the Trust could become an employer for life.  However, a lot of work still needed to be undertaken as many of the services provided by CNWL were subject to re-procurement.  This could make staff feel nervous and unsettled about the security of their employment and the morale of staff working in this environment tended to be lower. 

Ms Millard advised that exit interviews were undertaken with staff that were leaving a post.  The most common reasons for leaving were in relation to retirement, relocation, promotion and work/life balance (over which the Trust had some control).  The risk of leaving the organisation was highest in the first twelve months so consideration was being given to the recruitment process to ensure that prospective recruits were fully aware of what the job would entail. 

Various projects had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s Work Programme.  It was noted that the update on the provision of hospice inpatient services in the North of the Borough had been moved from the meeting on 12 June 2019 to 9 July 2019 to ensure that key officers were able to attend. 

With regard to the meeting on 12 June 2019, Members would be receiving presentations from NHS England on three issues: the implementation of congenital heart disease standards, cancer screening and diagnostics and a review of cancer services at Mount Vernon Hospital.  A presentation would also be received from NHS North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups on the potential changes at Moorfields City Road site and Members would receive an update on the implementation of recommendations from the Community Sentencing review.

It was agreed that, in order to provide extensive notice, representatives from the Post Office be invited to attend the Committee’s meeting on 14 January 2020. 

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme, as amended, be agreed.