Agenda and minutes

Apologises were received from Councillor Michael White, Councillor Dominic Gilham was present as a substitute.

Following Councillor O’Connor’s withdrawal from the meeting at 6.50pm Councillor Peter Kemp was appointed as Chairman for the reminder of meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 28^th October 2010 be agreed as a correct record.

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.

Adam Crosby (Hillingdon Ambulance Operations Manager) and Peter McKenna (Assistant Director of Operations) to update the Committee on work that the Ambulance Service has undertaken in the last year.

This item was deferred to the next meeting being held on 11^th January 2011.

The Chairman welcomed the witnesses to the meeting and invited them to present their report to the Committee. It was agreed at the External Services Scrutiny Committee meeting on 16^th June 2010 that representatives from Hillingdon PCT and Central & North West London Foundation Trust (CNWL) be invited to this Committee meeting to provide a further update. At the last meeting it was anticipated that the transfer to vertically integrate Hillingdon Community Health with CNWL would be completed by April 2011.

Vertical Integration

Ms Maria O’Brien, Managing Director of Hillingdon Community Health (HCH), presented the Committee with an update on vertical integration. Two providers stood out as the best options and the panel of stakeholders chose CNWL as the preferred option. There was a detailed due diligence exercise carried out. This report received approval by the Cooperation and Competition Panel (CCP), also reviewed the proposal and did not find any issue to prevent it from proceeding. The business case was approved and was awaiting sign off by the CNWL Board in November and was awaiting sign off by the NHSH Board at their meeting on 30th November 2010.

There were benefits of trying to bring together physical and mental services which made CNWL an attractive option. CNWL would also bring economies of scale.  There was a need at Board level for an individual to concentrate on community services and Mr John Vaughan would take on Board level responsibility for community services from January 2011.

All staff affected by the transfer had been contacted and consulted with, and a TUPE transfer was being completed to CNWL. There were a number of benefits for staff with this integration, including more opportunities for staff as they would be part of a larger organisation, and would retain all of their NHS benefits. Ms O’Brien and other senior officer had met with staff at different sites and it was clear there were no major concerns to note.

A group had been set up to look at improvements for Clinical Service Provision. Mr Keith Bullen confirmed for the PCT that there was no intention of de-commissioning or reducing the funding available to community services.

CNWL had entered into an arrangement with Boots the Chemist for a Wellbeing Centre. This was already open. It was hoped that a number of the HCH services would be moved into the Wellbeing Centre to offer more to the public. The centre would also reduce duplication of work; heart failure service would be brought together, a community based cardiology centre be set up, more focus on children’s mental needs and also on dementia.

Although IT and estates would remain intact, the whole team and day-today management would transfer to CNWL. Nationally a decision had not been made on ownership of estates.

Ms O’Brien spoke about the tough economic climate and the efficiency savings that had to be made. It was anticipated that some savings would be made from management overheads and some from estates. The reduction in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Members asked that the London Ambulance Service be invited to the next meeting as they had not attended the meeting. Members asked Democratic Services to write to the PCT to thank them formally for their presentations which were very interesting. Members were advised that the scoping report of the Children’s Self Harm Working Group would be moved to the Committee’s next meeting.

RESOLVED:  That:

1. Democratic Services write to the PCT to thank them for their presentations;
2. the update from the London Ambulance Service be moved to the next Committee next meeting held on 11^th January 2011;
3. the scoping report of the Children’s Self Harm Working Group be considered at the Committee’s next meeting on 11^th January 2011; and
4. the Work Programme be agreed subject to the above amendments.