Agenda item

10:30

The Committee is invited to consider the advice from the IRP in response to the Committee’s referral to the Secretary of State of the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (OCCG) decision not to re-procure services at Deer Park Medical Centre (JHO6).

As part of this, the Committee will receive an update on the OCCG’s progress in developing a plan for primary care in Witney; and consider how to develop and sustain an open, no surprises, productive and effective working relationship with the NHS. This paper is also attached at JHO6.

Prior to consideration of this item the Committee was addressed by Brenda Churchill, Chair, Deer Park Surgery PPG. She stated the PPG’s concern that, although the IRP report had been published at the beginning of July, nothing constructive had been done in response to its content. It was only in the last few days, on 8 September, had a meeting with the local MP taken place. She added that there were fears that the OCCG was procrastinating due to the need to concentrate on the Transformation proposals. She also reiterated the point made by HWO that NHS England still needed to appoint an independent person, asking the Committee to ensure that the outstanding work highlighted in the IRP report be carried out quickly. Furthermore, feedback from Deer Park patients had indicated that progress had not been smooth in relation to services provided, such as repeat prescriptions (72 hour wait). She asked what would happen when there was more housing development in this area – asking would patients have to wait even longer?

Brenda Churchill also expressed her concern that Witney and its surrounds had not been included within the current work being undertaken by the OCCG on future primary care for Oxfordshire. The Witney PPGs were thus calling for at least one public meeting in order that the proper consultation could take place.

The Committee welcomed Catherine Mountford, Director of Governance, and Sarah Adair, Head of Communications, OCCG to the meeting. Referring to the points made by HWO and by Brenda Churchill she stated the following:

·        Since May of this year work had been ongoing on Primary Care sustainability. She pointed out that there were very different issues inherent in each locality to be looked at in relation to how to plan a strategic service. She added that there was a timeline for this work which had been published on the OCCG website and a web link would be made available to members of the Committee. In addition a template was being prepared on what patients felt were important in their primary care which would then go out to GP practices. She stated that the OCCG accepted the need to be open-minded and transparent about how surgeries would be staffed and funded etc. She assured the Committee that the OCCG accepted the responsibility to undertake this work in a proper manner and issues in West Oxfordshire such as housing growth were not being ignored. Catherine Mountford reported also that the OCCG planned two events in the West Oxfordshire area, at which the public would be involved – one in Witney and Eynsham and another in the surrounding environs within the area. A further event would also take place at the end of April 2018 focusing on funding. She added that an update would be given on meetings taking place and future work to be undertaken on the sustainability of primary care. This work would include a perspective on other issues such as longer waiting times in GP surgeries;

·        With regard to comments made about a reduction in primary care funding in the Witney as a result of patients at Deer Park Surgery not re-registering, she pointed out that 10% non-re-registration was fairly common for an area and the OCCG had not yet found the best way to ensure that patients moved on to another surgery. Furthermore that it was not normal procedure for the NHS to assign a patient to another surgery for patient choice reasons. She undertook to look into what was allowed under the regulations. However, if it was not, then the NHS was reliant on the individual themselves to undertake this. She also confirmed that a joint letter with HWO would be sent to those 400 patients who had not re-registered;

·        Catherine Mountford assured the Committee that decisions about Deer Park would not be rolled into the Phase 2 Transformation consultation, but would take account of the general work underway looking at Witney, Eynsham and rural surrounds, looking a population growth, housing needs, current capacity etc.

At the request of the Committee, Catherine Mountford, on behalf of the OCCG, agreed the following:

·        to take up the invitation to be extended by  Witney Locality meeting to discuss the locality plan;

·        (alongside the PPG Deer Park Chair) to ask NHS England to hasten their identification of an independent person to review the CCGs plan to commission a time-limited project to develop a comprehensive plan for primary care and related services in Witney and its surrounds, as recommended by the IRP. The Committee felt that this person should have an involvement throughout;

·        to take back a request by Committee to review its decision making process in relation to Deer Park in order to build a more meaningful relationship, and genuine engagement with the community, to include information on GP availability, the GP tendering process and its transparency, what constituted and who rejected the GP bid, how decisions were made and current GP availability. Catherine Mountford also agreed to provide a cost analysis for the closure of the surgery, also information on whether incentives were given to other surgeries to take on more patients (it was pointed out that Witney had a population of nearer to 28k, not 23k as documented by the CCG. She also agreed to provide a web-link to information which was in the public domain regarding funding payments for increases of patient numbers on the register;

·        to provide a detailed future plan of action, including responsibilities and timeline for Deer Park.

Katie Read also undertook:

·        to give a response to HWO about the possibility of sharing traffic data during OTP discussions;

·        to correct the reference in the timeline from the DoH letter to reflect the fact that members of the Committee were not involved in the meeting between the CCG and the former Chairman of HOSC;

The Committee AGREED:

(a)   to form and informal working group comprising Councillors Price, Lovatt, McHugh, Champken-Woods and Fatemian and Keith Ruddle, together with CCG representatives, to produce a set of proposals of how to work together in a better way; and

(b)    an update be produced at the 16 November 2017 meeting and final recommendations be submitted at the January 2018 meeting.