Minutes:
The Chief Accountable Officer for the South West London Alliance said the Committees in Common had agreed to proceed to public consultation on the re-configuration of acute services in South West London set out in the Improving Healthcare Together 2020-2030 (IHT).
The Improving Healthcare Together 2020-2030 (IHT) Programme Director gave an overview of the consultation plan for Merton stating that it will run for twelve weeks. It will remain under constant review and will include a wide range of activities, including listening events, focus groups and telephone surveys. The Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will to do outreach activities. There will also be a mid-point review of the consultation.
Panel Members asked; what the budget will be for the consultation, further details on the mid-point review and if there will be an extension to the consultation should it be required. The IHT Programme Director said there is no fixed budget for the consultation as it is dependent upon the number of responses. The CCG’s are aiming to manage fixed costs within existing budgets.
The Chief Accountable Officer said the outcomes from the mid-point review depends on information received. The consultation falls well within good practice guidelines and will not be extended. The cost of the consultation will be available when it is completed.
Panel Members expressed concern about the location of consultation events and asked if there will be events in Wimbledon and why there is an event in Dundonald Ward which is an area where residents are less likely to be affected.
The IHT Programme Director said events will be held across a broad range of areas to represent the population. There will some events in Wimbledon and will consider if more need to be held as the consultation goes forward.
A Panel Member said she works closely with a local charity who are concerned about the proposals as residents will need to get two buses to get to the Sutton site . The Medical Director for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals said if Sutton is chosen, people will only go there when acutely ill and need critical care. The majority of people will receive care at nearest hospital. The aim is to get care closer to home and minimise the time people need to spend in specialist community care hospital. The IHT Senior Programme Manager said they will run focus groups with older people in Merton.
A panel member asked what weighting is given to each of the components on decision making. The IHT Programme Director said no weighting will be given, they will go through a process to look at responses as well as evidence from finance and the integrated impact assessment.
Panel members expressed concern about travel times. The Chief Executive of Epsom and St Helier Hospital said most people who are unwell travel by ambulance, the average change in journey times is the same to all the proposed sites. The big variation is in public transport and we need to determine what improvements should be made.
A Panel member said the dedicated monies for this project was withdrawn in the past what is the guarantee that the finances will remain this time. The Chief Accountable Officer said she has received assurance from the Government that the funding is available.
A panel member sought clarification about how the interviews will be conducted and how the weighting will be assessed for different characteristics. The IHT Senior Programme Manager reported that YOUGOV will engage with those who do not traditionally attend focus groups.
A Panel member highlighted that the website should state that the Equality Impact Assessment is still in draft as work is on-going between Merton council and the CGG to ratify the data. The Chief Accountable Officer agreed to update the website to reflect this.
A Panel member expressed concern that in ‘meeting the health needs of local people’ in the consultation plan they merge older people and people from deprived communities when their health needs are very different.
The Chief Executive, Epsom and St Helier Hospital said CCG engagements had found service had a higher use by older people and those from deprived backgrounds. The big impact identified was travel time.
A Panel member asked if they measured the extent the quality of care would improve. It was reported that cancer care will improve as it is co-located at the Sutton site but everyone will benefit in all the models.
RESOLVED
The chair wished NHS colleagues well with the consultation and asked panel members to encourage local residents to participate. He highlighted that Merton Council has been very clear that it wishes for all services to remain at the St Helier Hospital.
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