Agenda item

Ms Jessamy Kinghorn, Head of Partnerships and Engagement at NHS England – East of England, stated that specialised commissioning had been delegated to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) so she effectively also worked for the ICBs.  Ms Kinghorn had been attending the Committee’s meetings since 2019, with the last update being delivered at the meeting in January 2023.

Members were advised that, in 2019, clinicians had asked that Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC) be looked at, which resulted in an independent clinical review being undertaken.  The review identified a number of things that needed to be changed immediately as well as longer term objectives.  Concerns were highlighted about the need to transfer patients who deteriorated from MVCC as the facilities were not available there to support them.  MVCC needed to be run by a cancer specialist and needed to be moved to an acute hospital site.  University College London Hospital had been appointed as the specialist provider but would not take full control of MVCC until it had moved to a new site.  The current site had considerable issues with the state of the buildings.  These issues combined meant that there were a lack of opportunities and the staff at MVCC were currently unable to take part in any trials because there was no critical care support available.

Ms Kinghorn noted that a lot of patient engagement had already been undertaken as part of the review and various funding proposals had been put together.  The best option had been to build an independent cancer centre in Watford linked to the hospital site.  This would mean a slightly longer journey for come patients from Hillingdon but had still been deemed to be the best option.  To address some of the concerns raised in relation to the longer travel times, it had been agreed that a new chemotherapy service would be incorporated into the new Hillingdon Hospital build project.

Expressions of interest had been submitted for funding from the New Hospitals Programme but this bid had been unsuccessful.  This had been largely a timing issue in that it had coincided with the deterioration of RAAC in hospital buildings that needed to be dealt with urgently.  Ms Kinghorn had continued to work with the national team who had agreed that MVCC was a priority and that the alternatives did not provide a good enough option (and would cost almost as much as the new build option).  Although the source of capital funding had not yet been identified, a number of short term decisions needed to be made.

Looking forward, Ms Kinghorn had been in discussions with Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and with the health scrutiny officers of around a dozen other affected local authorities and it had been agreed that a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) be set up.  As HCC had the largest number of patients using MVCC each year, it would chair the JHOSC and Hillingdon (with the second largest number of patients) would be proposed as vice chair.  It was noted that the scope of the consultation would include all services at MVCC but would not include inpatients at the DGHs who could not be treated at MVCC or haematology services in the north of the area.  The Paul Strickland Scanner Centre and Lynda Jackson MacMillan Centre would be affected but Michael Sobell House and Hillingdon Hospital services on the site would not be affected.

Members agreed for the Chair to be involved in the JHOSC and noted that he would report back to the Committee on progress.  Ms Kinghorn advised that she would also be happy to attend future meetings of the Committee to provide Members with updates as required.

RESOLVED:  That:

1. the progress of the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre review and the plans to move forward to consultation be noted;
2. Hillingdon’s involvement in a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) later this year be confirmed; and
3. the Chair of Hillingdon’s Health and Social Care Select Committee be considered for the role of Vice Chair on the JHOSC.