Agenda item

The Chair will update the Committee on recent events.

The Chair stated that he had invited Ron Jacob, Governor at Whittington Hospital to attend that evening in order that he could present the Governor perspective in relation to the current situation at the Whittington.

During consideration of the verbal submission the following main points were made –

·         It was noted that there was a shadow Governing Body at the Whittington which had been set up when the Trust was bidding for Foundation status and that this had been continued with once the application had not gone forward

·         In response to a question about the Hearts and Minds campaign it was stated that it was felt that this was not about making financial savings by removing beds but more about enabling patients to recover at home where they would be more likely to progress and not pick up any infections

·         Members expressed concern that the social care may not be available in the community and that patients would not get the care that they received in hospital

·         It was stated that there had been additional community beds purchased so that patients could receive appropriate care prior to admission or before returning home

·         The Whittington had benefitted from the opening of the Ambulatory Care centre and this had been successful and resulted in a reduction in A&E attendances

·         The Whittington had applied for additional funding to upgrade maternity services at the hospital and a response was expected shortly on whether this would be successful

·         The Trust had a number of financial challenges and there was a defecit of £7 million that needed to be addressed. The appointment of an interim Finance Director and a permanent Finance Director who would be starting in a few months time would be addressing this and it was hoped that improvements would be made

·         It was stated that waiting time for A&E had improved since the difficulties experienced over the winter and a rapid access pathway had been introduced and this enabled patients to be seen more quickly

·         In relation to patient feedback it was stated that the Trust were putting more effort in trying to gather patient feedback as it was proving difficult to get this information at present through the Friends and Families Test

·         In response to a question about whether there was low staff morale at the Trust it was stated that the results of the annual staff survey were published openly and that the Trust did not do particularly well in relation to staff morale. The new Chief Executive was looking at measures to address this

·         A Member expressed concern that the Hearts and Minds campaign was seen as a measure the Trust were adopting to cut costs. It was stated that the Trust had been looking at this for a few years, however there was a need to convince residents that this was in their interest as well. The Trust had held a series of meetings to explain the proposals and get the public views however these had not been well attended but where there was attendance it had largely proved positive. There had been improvements in the extension of hours of community nurses and Council support services and there was a need to develop these further to make them more effective

·         It was also stated that Whittington had improved procedures for patient discharge and that there was now a weekend pharmacy to enable patients to be discharged at weekend. The Trust were also looking at year on year efficiency savings and the target is 6% for the forthcoming year

·         The Whittington were looking at systems that could reduce bed demand however the primary concern was the best interests of patients

·         A Member expressed the view that moving care into the community would necessitate the Trust presenting the rationale and how this would be achieved and it was hoped that the Trust would do this

The Chair thanked Ron Jacob for attending