Agenda item

Mr Nick Strouthidis, Medical Director at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (MEH), advised that Moorfields was the oldest and largest centre of its kind in Europe.  It trained approximately half of all eye surgeons in the UK.  The Trust provided excellence in eye care, ground breaking research and comprehensive training. 

The Trust operated from 31 sites with City Road being the main site from which 30% of activity was undertaken.  Moorfields had been located at the City Road site since the 1890s and, since then, the services available and the needs of patients had changed.  As such, the building had some constraints and patient experience was not always acceptable with regard to, for example, way finding. 

Members were advised that 10 of the other 30 sites performed surgery (for example, Ealing Hospital) and the others offered a clinic facility.  They were reassured that the proposed move to St Pancras would not replace any of the services provided from the other 30 locations.  These services were provided in areas where the Trust had been invited by the local CCG and the Trust was actively looking to identify different ways of delivering care. 

It was suggested that a move to a new site would enable the Trust to integrate various strands of expertise (for example, research and education) with the intention of stimulating interaction between clinicians, educators and researchers.  Ms Johanna Moss, Director of Strategy and Development at MEH, advised that the options appraisals had been assessed and had resulted in the proposal to buy two acres of land for a purpose built facility on the St Pancras site.  This move would also help in the regeneration of a deprived area. 

Since 2013/14, the Trust had been considering next steps and had been receiving consistent messages regarding the need for accessibility and transport hubs.  Investigations had shown that a move from City Road to St Pancras would make an average difference of 3½ minutes to a patient’s journey time.  The challenge would be how to get patients from the termination of their chosen form of transport to the new site (known as the last half mile).  Currently, it took patients 10 minutes to travel the last half mile; it was likely to take 10-20 minutes for the new site.  Discussions had been undertaken with RNIB and it was likely that extra support would need to be put in place during the transition period which could include the use of volunteers to signpost.  Consideration would also be given to the use of digital technology.  It was suggested that Network Rail, Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London be contacted to consider permanent step free access.  Mr Turkay Mahmoud, Interim Chief Executive Officer at Healthwatch Hillingdon, advised that he would liaise with the other North West London Healthwatch bodies to gain their thoughts on this proposal. 

Concern was expressed that the move to St Pancras might impact on the stability of the Western Ophthalmic Hospital (WOH) as it was located just along the Circle line.  Mr Strouthidis advised that WOH served a different target audience in the North West corridor.  There had been active conversations between the two Trusts and he did not anticipate there being any significant competition between them.  Mr Strouthidis also advised that there was no intention to scale back the services provided by MEH from the new site. 

It was noted that the current City Road site would need to be sold and the proceeds would be used to develop the new site.  Other sources of funding would include Government funding, capital reserves and fundraising.  Concern was expressed regarding the risk associated with not meeting the fundraising target.  The financial modelling undertaken had identified a lot of initial risk but the Trust was in the early stages of fundraising.  At the end of the consultation period, the Trust would produce an outline business case and would still have time to raise the remainder of the funds needed. 

Ms Moss advised that MEH would be holding public sessions to solicit feedback from residents and stakeholders.  Members were asked to let her know if they were aware of any other pre-scheduled meetings that MEH ought to attend.  It was noted that, in 2017/18, there had been 3,636 patients from Hillingdon attending the City Road site and 730 specialised patients. 

Mr Strouthidis advised that it would not be practical to replicate the current services in a new location as this would not be sustainable in the longer term as demand for ophthalmology services continued to grow at a steady pace.  There was also a need to ensure that patients were seen face-to-face when needed and that tests were completed in quick succession so that they could be reviewed remotely by a consultant in a timely manner. 

RESOLVED:  That the discussion be noted.